Drone crashes near White House – again

A Washington, D.C., man had his drone confiscated after it crashed into a park near the White House. 

|
US Secret Service/Reuters/File
A recreational drone landed on the White House South Lawn, January 26. Another drone crashed onto The Ellipse, a park near the White House, on Friday. The operator has been cited for launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft.

Howard Solomon III would like his drone back, please. 

Officials cited the man for illegally operating a hobby-sized remote controlled aircraft that landed in a park close to the White House.

Officers first noticed the drone flying by the Washington Monument at around 1:20 a.m. Friday, according to US Park Police and the Secret Service. They found the operator after he lost control of the drone, which landed on The Ellipse, a park south of the White House.

Mr. Solomon, a resident of Washington, D.C., was cited for launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft, according to Park Police. His drone was also confiscated.

Solomon says he was trying to photograph the Washington Monument when wind caused the drone to lose control.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Washington and communities within 15-miles of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport became a designated “No Drone Zone.” But the recent surge in recreational drone use has presented the Secret Service with new security threats, particularly at the White House.

In May, a drone-like device flying above a nearby park caused the White House to go on lockdown.

And as The Christian Science Monitor reported, a small drone crashed on the grounds of the White House in January, causing emergency vehicles to respond while Secret Service agents combed the grounds.

But what if an aircraft actually intended to target the White House?

Agents probably have a version of a hand-held, surface-to-air missile. It’s thought there is at least one longer-range defensive missile emplacement on a higher building outside the White House perimeter.

Small drones would require a different kind of defense, of course. Perhaps electronic jamming would work, or shotguns. If the Secret Service did not previously have a plan to defeat such a tiny intruder, it now has received a wakeup call indicating that it needs one.

This particular security breach in January occurred during a series of scandals that rocked the Secret Service, painting the agency as complacent and dysfunctional.

But as Ronald Kessler wrote for Time Magazine, the Secret Service takes this new threat seriously, and is actively developing strategies to adapt to an airspace made more accessible with drone technology:  

The agency has consulted with the Energy Department’s national laboratories, which protect nuclear sites from attack, on what to do about them before a drone deploys a bomb or radiological, biological, or chemical agents at the White House.

The Secret Service, the national laboratories, and Defense Department are working on counter-measures that would zap the electronic components of drones with electromagnetic waves or disrupt their radio commands.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Drone crashes near White House – again
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2015/1009/Drone-crashes-near-White-House-again
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe