Small drone puts White House on lockdown

The White House was briefly put on lockdown
Thursday as the Secret Service detained an
individual for flying a small drone in an
adjacent park.



President Barack Obama was not in the
residence at the time.
In a statement, the Secret Service said the
individual was seen flying the Parrot Bebop
device in Lafayette Park at an altitude of
about 100 feet (35 meters).
He was detained by uniformed Secret Service
officers as the park — filled at lunch hour on
a sunny spring day — was swiftly evacuated
and the White House was briefly put on
lockdown.
“As a precaution, the small UAV was swept
and declared safe,” said the Secret Service,
which released a photo of the red
quadracopter — a popular consumer model
with a video camera built in.
The operator was later identified by the
United States Park Police as Ryan
MacDonald, 39, of Vacaville, California.
That police agency said in a statement that
the man was arrested “for violating federal
law.” It did not elaborate other than to say
MacDonald was cited and it is to appear in
court.
Obama was meeting Gulf leaders at his rural
Camp David retreat in Maryland at the time of
the incident.
Flying drones of any size is prohibited within
the US capital — a point that the Federal
Aviation Administration is underscoring in a
“no-drone zone” publicity campaign it
launched earlier this week.
In January, a DJI Phantom drone — another
consumer model — crashed onto the White
House grounds after it slipped out of the
control of the federal employee who was
flying it in the early hours of the morning.
The incident was deemed to be an accident
and no charges were filed.
A similar Parrot Bebop, weighing about one
pound (500 grams), was flown indoors in
January at the Capitol during a House of
Representatives committee hearing on
unmanned aircraft technology