Robert Knowles, 46, was found to have flown his homemade aircraft into restricted airspace over a nuclear submarine facility. Both offenses breached the UK’s Air Navigation Order.

He also flew his drone, which was equipped with a video camera, too close to a vehicle bridge in an illegal maneuvers. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the conviction sends a message to recreational users of drones that they are subject to aviation safety rules A man has become the first person in Britain to be successfully prosecuted for the dangerous and illegal flying of an unmanned aircraft (UAV).

Mr Knowles, of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, was found guilty on 1 April and fined £800 at Furness and District Magistrate Court following the prosecution by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who said the case raised important safety issues concerning recreational flying of unmanned aircraft.

A drone must never be flown beyond the normal unaided ‘line of sight’ of the person operating it. This is generally measured as 1,640ft (500m) horizontally or 400ft (121m) vertically. A […]