http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technol...ting-drone-incident-at-seattles-space-needle/ The Federal Aviation Administration told ABC News today that it is looking into reports that a drone recently hovered above the observation deck of Seattle’s famous Space Needle. While curious tourists waved, the mysterious flying object gave security quite a scare. Authorities said a man launched the drone out of his hotel room window on Tuesday. “There was no malcontent or malice,” said Drew Fowler of the Seattle Police Department. “He wasn’t trying to do anything wrong. He was just trying to capture some interesting footage.” Related: Police probe possible peeping drone outside woman’s home. Related: Amazon wants to test delivery drones in Seattle. Related: Growing traffic in US skies as drone almost hits passenger plane. While recreational drone usage is legal in Washington state, today’s incident was the latest raising questions about whether it’s safe to fly drones above crowded cities. Last year, a drone buzzed over the busy streets of New York, flying past iconic landmarks like the Chrysler building and then crash-landing, nearly hitting pedestrians during the height of rush hour. And there have been close calls with planes. A drone last year came within 200 feet of a jumbo jet. Drones have been exploding in popularity but the rules for how and where they can be used have not caught up. The FAA said it is working on new safety guidelines but it could take two years for them to take effect.
Around 15 seconds in the reporter woman says "Raising serious privacy issues". What privacy issues? You're in public at the space needle. It's already been determined that you can't have any expectation of privacy in public. How do they think that "paparazzi" or the news themselves exist? Then they go on and mention "near misses" with passenger jets which is not even relevant because passenger jets don't fly by the space needle. They should have been talking about the beautiful video the drone got but good news doesn't sell. The drone didn't crash, all is well. Nothing to see here.