Drone photographer cited for snapping pictures of VA Hospital

By Fred Childers

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) –

A Shreveport man found out the hard way that you can’t just point and shoot pictures with a drone, especially when it’s aimed at the Overton Brooks VA hospital which is a federal building.

Jay Cougar operates his drone for fun and work.

“We actually do a lot of aerial videography for wedding videos, we shoot for real estate,” said Cougar.

Recently he was contacted by a local newspaper to use his drone to get an aerial picture of Overton Brooks VA Hospital.

“I was planning on taking a couple aerial shots, they have those solar panels and the unique style of the building, I thought it would be a great shot,” said Cougar.

But the VA Police did not think it was a great shot.

“[They] came up and questioned me, and said that was restricted air space. That was their exact words,” said Cougar.

A VA official explained to KSLA News 12 that restricted air space is actually an FAA issue, but he did confirm a person was cited for an incident related to a drone, and said the actual charge was unauthorized photography.

“They took me up and wrote me a summons and a ticket and took my memory card out of the drone,” said Cougar.

He will now pay a fine for each of the 8 pictures he took of the hospital.

“It was like a $50 fine for each picture,” said Cougar.

Cougar tries to keep up with the latest news regarding drone regulations.

“The law says it can’t be over 55 pounds, can’t lose sight of it, and you can’t go over 700 feet,” said Cougar.

When asked if he thought the V.A. Police were on solid ground citing him Cougar said, “That’s a tough one, I don’t want to say yeah, I’m in the wrong, but it’s just one of those things where I could have done it a little differently.”

The VA confiscated Cougar’s memory card but say it will be returned to him.

http://www.ksla.com/story/28974398/drone-photographer-cited-for-snapping-pictures-of-va-hospital