Tourists crash drone into Milan Cathedral, causing minor damage
Inevitably, as greater technology falls in the hands of more travelers, incidences of shocking imbecility become ever more common. Currently, drones top the anxiety list for officials at many major tourist attractions around the world, as the machines with spinning propellers present a clear and present danger both to brick and mortar structures and tourists themselves.
On that note, today’s installment of World's Worst Tourists comes from Milan, Italy, where three Korean men were arrested for flying a drone around, and into, the city’s iconic cathedral. Spotting the drone buzzing about the ornately carved Duomo di Milano — the largest Gothic cathedral in the world — Veneranda Fabbrica, the organization that cares for the cathedral, called the police.
Startled or distracted by the arrival of police, the three men lost control of the drone, which promptly crashed into the building, hitting and unhooking a construction cable and barely missing the gold Madonna statue that tops the Duomo's central spire. Luckily, the damage was minor, but the incident nonetheless raises ever more fears about the safety of attractions from slack-jawed tourists now empowered (and encouraged) with greater technology (selfies included).
Drones and their increasing affordability and accessibility remain a huge concern, and officials at destinations are scrambling to formulate rules regarding the machines, including British authorities, who earlier this year banned drones from coming within 150 meters of any congested area (i.e. tourist attractions) and within 50 meters of buildings not owned by their operator.
France has also taken a hardline with drones, throwing one Israeli tourist in jail for a night and slapping another with a fine of €400 for flying a drone around Notre Dame cathedral. He probably got off easy, considering the illegal drone operation in France can earn up to a year in prison and a €75,000 ($84,000) fine.
The problem gets compounded by the fact that most tourists don’t know study up on drone laws before traveling, but as a Kenyan magistrate pointed out to a tourist arrested in January for flying a drone around Amboseli National Park, ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
At home, Federal Aviation Administration is still wrestling with the issue, pledging to finalize regulation for drones by the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017. In the meantime, the lack of clarity is allowing drones to operate almost everywhere, even outside your window, as one recently acquitted New York man demonstrated. In fact, it's what's keeping the three men in Milan out of jail, too, as Italian authorities determine whether any laws have actually been broken.