{"id":2050,"date":"2014-04-30T19:50:55","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T19:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amagov\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2014-04-30T19:50:55","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T19:50:55","slug":"faa-looking-into-10k-fine-for-drone-recording-of-tornado-disaster-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amagov\/2014\/04\/30\/faa-looking-into-10k-fine-for-drone-recording-of-tornado-disaster-area\/","title":{"rendered":"FAA \u2018looking into\u2019 $10K fine for drone recording of tornado disaster area"},"content":{"rendered":"

As reported on RT.com<\/a>…<\/p>\n

The Federal Aviation Administration, already facing criticism from private drone operators, has launched an investigation into drone use in the aftermath of the devastating tornadoes that swept across the southeastern United States.<\/p>\n

\"Tornado<\/a>
RT.com screenshot from the video uploaded on YouTube by Brian Emfinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Arkansas Democrat-Gazette<\/a>\u00a0reported Tuesday that the FAA has initiated a probe into the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to gather aerial footage of the terrible scene in Arkansas, where at least 14 people died over the past few days due to the tornados. One of the worst hit areas was Mayflower, Arkansas, located just 40 minutes away from the state capital of Little Rock, where over a dozen people died.<\/p>\n

Storm chaser and videographer Brian Eminger sought to help the public understand just how bad the disaster was by sending a drone equipped with a video camera over Mayflower just moments after the storms had passed.<\/p>\n

A short video he posted on YouTube, which attracted nearly two million views within just 48 hours, showed emergency crews sifting through rubble where homes and buildings once stood. The images proved that the small Arkansas town was unrecognizable compared to just hours before, with vehicles and large piles of lumber strewn across the highway and elsewhere.<\/p>\n