A bird? A plane? No, a drone crash lands at Petco Park

San Diego Union-Tribune

May 22, 2017 11:31 AM PT

Anyone at the Padres’ 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks on Sunday might have wondered if it was a strange bird that lowered itself behind Arizona’s dugout in the seventh inning Sunday afternoon.

Was it a plane?

Or was it … a drone?

Indeed, it was.

Fox Sports Arizona caught the entire episode on camera, including the crash landing into the upper deck seating as Clayton Richard faced Chris Owings in the top of the seventh inning.

The crash landing was handled by Padres security and the San Diego Police Department, which tracked down the operator outside Petco Park.

The operator was not arrested or cited, Officer Billy Hernandez said by phone Monday afternoon.

“This was a guy working on his own blog going around San Diego videotaping or recording images,” said Hernandez. “He was flying it over Petco Park and lost control of it.”

Because Federal Aviation Administration regulations pertaining to unmanned aerial vehicles are relatively new, police weren’t able to pinpoint charges, Hernandez said.

The City Council in April unanimously approved an addition to the city’s municipal code that allows local law enforcement to issue citations and levy fines for violations of the FAA’s regulations, which include flying unmanned aerial vehicles near airports and emergency operations.

Anyone convicted of violating the FAA’s regulations could face a fine of $1,000 or six months in jail if the city treats the violation as a misdemeanor. The fine for infractions start at $250 and increase to $500 for a second violation within the same year.

Major League Baseball also prohibits drones from flying over ballparks during games.

“This incident highlights the dangers posed by unauthorized drone use in proximity to large public venues like Petco Park,” Padres Chief Operation Officer Erik Greupner said in a statement provided to the Union-Tribune. “The Padres vocally supported the City of San Diego’s recently enacted ordinance that enables SDPD to enforce the (Federal Aviation Administration) restrictions on operating drones near large public venues. We look forward to continuing to work with local authorities to ensure that this ordinance is enforced to the fullest extent possible.”

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