America
Crashed White House drone, pilot quizzed
Washington Jan 27
The person operating the
drone that crashed on the White House grounds called the US Secret
Service to "self-report" their involvement in the incident.
The
individual was interviewed by Secret Service agents and has been fully
cooperative, Secret Service spokesperson Brian Leary said in a statement
Monday afternoon, CNN reported.
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.
"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.
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 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.
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.
Flying drones is illegal in the District of Columbia, but that hasn't always kept them out of the capital's skies.