"Drone" found on White House lawn

[Bartman]

ugh.......not only is this bad news but Twitter is going to explode with tweets and retweets of this story

View attachment 22990

26 January, 2015 Washington Post Story, Drone Found on White House Lawn

NEW DELHI — A “device” was found on the grounds of the White House early Monday, but officials said it did not pose a threat.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, said the Secret Service recovered the device and were investigating. He gave no further details.

The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies, citing unconfirmed reports, described the device as possibly a small drone. But there was no immediate word from authorities.

Earnest said the device did not pose an ongoing threat to the building or the first family. President Obama and First Lady Michele Obama were in India, but were no accompanied by their daughters Sasha and Malia.

It was not immediately clear whether the girls were at the White House when the device was discovered before dawn. They were under the care of their grandmother, who also lives at the White House.


“There is a device that has been recovered by the Secret Service at the White House,” Earnest said when asked if a drone was found. “The early indications are that it does not pose any sort of ongoing threat to anybody at the White House.”

Around 5 a.m., authorities could be seen searching the White House grounds with flashlights.

The incident comes after a series of lapses in security at the White House and a shakeup in the leadership at the Secret Service.

In September, a knife-wielding man scaled the fence at the White House and ran through much of the mansion’s main floor. An armed private security contractor in Atlanta also boarded an elevator with Obama that same month.

In a series of reports, the Post disclosed how the Secret Service failed to respond well after a gunman shot at the White House in 2011. That incident raised major concerns among lawmakers.




Dana Hedgpeth and Carol D. Leonnig in Washington contributed to this report.

 

[Old Man]

Rules restricting aero modeling just hit the fast track....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[maxwelltub]

10 bucks says its a phantom

 

[Bartman]

if it isn't a phantom, i'll eat a phantom*




*a phantom shaped cookie

 

[maxwelltub]

Wouldn't be a bad idea to require people to register a serial number or something. I think it would be an easy way to prevent reckless behavior and hold people accountable for this type of dumb crap.

 

[Bartman]

if what they found is a DJI product then there will be an ownership trail whether by the serial number or the IP addresses logged by DJI when the owner accessed the website to set it all up.

let's just hope it's a dumb owner and not a dumb flyer with bad intentions

 

[tstrike]

Really, registration for a toy? Maybe I should be required to show picture id when I buy a lipo battery too.

Just to be safe, we should seal them in that big white house and only let the occupants out on sundays and an occasional holiday. Maybe a plexi bubble over the place just so we tax payers can still see the place…

 

[cootertwo]

Well, all they gotta do is read the label, "Made in China" there you go, an attack from a foreign country.

 

[Old Man]

Wouldn't be a bad idea to require people to register a serial number or something.

That is something already planned by the powers that be, it just hasn't been publicized yet. We past the point of being toys when long range (beyond a few hundred feet) auto pilots became vogue.

 

[Bartman]

From the USA Today
WASHINGTON — The Secret Service said it recovered a 2-foot "quad copter" drone on the grounds of the White House early Monday and are looking into where it came from.

"An investigation is underway to determine the origin of this commercially available device, motive, and to identify suspects," the Secret Service said in a statement.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama were in India when the incident happened. Officials did not say whether other members of the first family are at the White House.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, speaking with reporters in India, said that "the early indications are" that the device "does not pose any sort of ongoing threat to anybody at the White House."

The Secret Service said that at 3:08 a.m. Monday one of its officers "heard and observed a 'quad copter' device, approximately two feet in diameter, flying at a very low altitude and ultimately crashing on the southeast side of the complex."

The unmanned aircraft, called a "quad" because it is lifted by four propellers, landed on the South Grounds of the White House.

"There was an immediate alert and lockdown of the complex until the device was examined and cleared," the Secret Service said in its statement. Officials closed off the perimeter around the White House in the early hours of Monday morning with police and emergency vehicles.

This is the latest in a string of security breaches involving the White House, including the September incident in which an intruder jumped the fence and made his way inside the executive mansion.

It is illegal to fly anything in the restricted air space above and around the White House.

The breach occurred as the Federal Aviation Administration develops long-awaited rules for commercial unmanned aircraft.

Congress ordered FAA in 2012 to develop the rules for commercial drones — which can range from a few ounces to as big as an airliner — to share the skies with passenger aircraft. New rules are expected to be announced in September.

There have been similar drone incidents in Washington, D.C. The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits aircraft over congressional buildings and the National Mall as well as the White House, citing security and other reasons associated with the national welfare.

Small quad copters sell commercially for a few hundred dollars or less.

Brendan Schulman, an attorney in New York City who specializes in commercial drone law, said most drones are in "the consumer device category" and weigh no more than three pounds.

They are often used for photography, he said.

 

[ChrisErl]

So who did the FAA hire to crash this?

 

[Mrtarango32]

Maybe the first daughters were flying it the night before getting some good scenery shots and it had a fly a way. And wasn't found till this morning ?

 

[tstrike]

Maybe the O arranged for a midnight choom delivery and forgot he was gonna be out of town...

 

[maxwelltub]

Given the number of incidents I don't think a serial number registration is such a bad idea.

 

[Bartman]

@jwoike i deleted your thread this morning as we posted almost simultaneously and i was trying to feature it on our home page. sorry about that.

From the Associated Press
Drone crash at White House complex prompts lockdown; DC man takes responsibility
JOSH LEDERMAN and JOAN LOWY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A small drone flying low to the ground crashed onto the White House grounds before dawn Monday, triggering a major emergency response and raising fresh questions about security at the presidential mansion. A man later came forward to say he was responsible and didn't mean to fly it over the complex.

The man contact with the Secret Service after reports of the crash spread in the media, a U.S. official said. The man told the agency that he had been flying the drone recreationally. The man is a Washington resident and is cooperating with investigators.

Secret Service agents are now interviewing other people to corroborate the man's story, and they don't currently have any reason to doubt the man's story, the official said.

The official wasn't authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity

Although President Barack Obama was not at home, the security breach prompted a lockdown of the entire complex until officials could examine the drone. The White House later said it did not pose a threat.

The drone crashed on the southeast side of the White House grounds just after 3 a.m., Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said.

The device was described as a two-foot-long quadcopter — a commercially available unmanned aircraft that is lifted by four propellers. Many small quadcopters are essentially sophisticated toys that can also be useful for commercial operations like aerial photography and inspections. Often weighing only a few pounds, they sell for as little as a few hundred dollars or less, and were popular Christmas gifts last year.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama were traveling in India, but their daughters, Sasha and Malia, may have been at home. White House officials declined to comment on the daughters' whereabouts Monday, but ahead of the president's trip aides had said the daughters would remain in Washington so as not to miss school.

"The early indications are that it do! es not p ose any sort of ongoing threat to anybody at the White House," said presidential spokesman Josh Earnest.

Still, the incident was likely to reinvigorate a long-running public debate about the use of commercial drones in U.S. skies — as well as White House security. The Secret Service is still recovering after a string of breaches that raised questions about whether the president is adequately protected.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a chief critic of Secret Service leadership, said the agency has been working for some time to figure out how to deal with the threat posed by unmanned aircraft. He said a wake-up call came in 2013 when a camera drone crashed in front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a campaign event in Germany.

"Any time you can breach the White House perimeter, it's deeply concerning," Chaffetz said in an interview Monday. "You don't know if it's some guy in a van down by the river controlling the drone or somebody who has some very nefarious intentions."

Although remote-controlled airplanes and related toys have been available for decades, White House aides could not recall any similar incidents having occurred in the past. The incident comes just as policymakers are, for the first time, grappling seriously with how to integrate unmanned aircraft into the nation's skies.

The recent proliferation of inexpensive drones has prompted growing fears about potential collisions with traditional aircraft. Technological advances have also made it easier to equip drones with advanced capabilities such as cameras, raising privacy issues as well as concerns that such devices could carry weapons.

Industry experts said that to carry and fire a weapon, a drone would need more engines and more propellers than most commercially-manufactured quadcopters.

At the urging of the drone industry, the Obama administration is on the verge of proposing rules to permit commercial flights by small drones, but no date has yet been set for relea! se of th e proposal. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration bans commercial drone flights — with some exceptions — and hobbyists are barred from flying drones above 400 feet in altitude or within 5 miles of an airport.

Airspace around the White House is heavily restricted to protect the president and other sensitive sites in the vicinity. Yet Monday's crash wasn't the first time police have responded to reports of drones in the area. Last August, District of Columbia police reported the arrest of a person who got stuck in a tree while trying to retrieve a small drone lodged in the branches. And in July, U.S. Park Service police investigated reports of a small quadcopter in the vicinity of the Lincoln Memorial, according a compilation of recent incidents by the FAA.

The response from emergency officials to Monday's crash was swift and intense. Police, fire and other emergency vehicles swarmed the White House, and the entire perimeter was locked down for about two hours. After daylight, more than a dozen officers fanned out to search the lawn with flashlights, and there was a heavier-than-usual presence of Secret Service agents on the roof of the White House.

The agency recently has faced persistent questions about its effectiveness and ability to protect the president.

Four high-ranking executives were reassigned this month, and former Director Julia Pierson was forced to resign last year after a Texas man armed with a knife was able to get over a White House fence and run into the executive mansion before being subdued.

 

[Kilby]

Turns out he was even a government employee. New York Times is reporting it now.

http://nyti.ms/1CY9jCc

 

[Bartman]

Perp turns himself in!

Washington (CNN)The person operating the drone that crashed on the White House grounds called the U.S. Secret Service Monday morning to "self-report" their involvement in the incident.

The individual was interviewed by Secret Service agents and has been fully cooperative, Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said in a statement Monday afternoon. The Secret Service locked down the White House shortly after 3 a.m. after an officer on the south grounds of the White House spotted the drone, described as a two-foot wide "quad copter," flying above the White House grounds before crashing on the southeast side of the complex. The officer saw the drone flying at a very low altitude.

"Initial indications are that this incident occurred as a result of recreational use of the device," Leary said.

The Secret Service will continue to investigate the incident through "corroborative interviews, forensic examinations and reviews of all other investigative leads," Leary said.

From the @SecretService, here's the quadcopter drone that crashed on the White House grounds early this morning: pic.twitter.com/QybE9GSjce

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) January 26, 2015
A Secret Service official said the owner of the drone called in after seeing reports of the drone on the news.

The Secret Service was sweeping the White House grounds on Monday morning looking for anything else that might be on the ground.

President Barack Obama and the first lady are both away, traveling in India.


RELATED: No, you can't fly drones over the White House

The executive director of the Small UAV Coalition, Michael Drobac, called the news of the drone crashing at the White House a "terrible incident" for the drone industry because it sends a message that drone users aren't using the technology responsibly.

But the vast majority of the at least half-million drone users in the U.S. are, Drobac said, citing a conservative estimate. The problem is "bad actors," he said, and the industry is working with the FAA to educate new users about the rules for operating drones.

And the industry is developing new technologies to prevent users from operating drones in unauthorized spaces. Some of the newest models of recreational drones won't turn on in unauthorized areas, like within 5 miles of an airport, Drobac said.

"Technology is going to help solve the problem and is already doing it. I trust technology over rogue operators," he said.

Flying drones is illegal in the District of Columbia, but that hasn't always kept them out of the capital's skies.

The Secret Service previously detained an individual operating a quadcopter drone on July 3 in President's Park, just a block from the South Lawn of the White House, according to a report filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Another person was detained by the U.S. Capitol Police for flying a drone on the Capitol Hill grounds. And in October, a drone was spotted above D.C.'s Bolling Air Force Base.

A surge in interest in drones and how they should be regulated even brought one to Capitol Hill -- inside a committee room, no less.

Congressmen watched in awe as robotics company executive flew a drone inside the committee room during a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on integrating commercial drones.

 

[Bartman]

posted at the same time! doh!

 

[Gary Seven]

LOL! It's official. Phantom owners are the new Inspector Clouseaus of the decade.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...house-apparently-accidental-officials-n293466

 

[Old Man]

Seems if anything needs regulated it's DJI and their damned Phantom. Not to mention government employees that are not cognizant of, or feel exempt from, D.C. flight restrictions.


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