Dutch drone pilot shot at twice while flying unmanned aircraft

A Dutch drone pilot was shot at on Friday while he was flying his unmanned aircraft. This is reported by the Police. The drone was undamaged, but the man, who is from the city of Tholen in the Netherlands, was injured in the arm as a result of the shooting. The man has since filed a complaint. Police are now looking for possible witnesses to the incident.

Two shots fired at Dutch drone pilot

The incident took place on Friday around 12:30 pm in the vicinity of the Gemaalweg in Tholen. While the man was flying his drone, two loud bangs were heard. Initially, the drone pilot thought that his device was being shot at, but that turned out not to be the case: the drone turned out to be okay.

Only later did the man discover that his arm was injured. A bullet was discovered at the hospital, probably from a firearm. Fortunately, the injuries were not very serious. Police may call on witnesses to come forward.

Previous incident

It is not the first time that a drone pilot has been confronted with violence in the Netherlands. In 2018, a drone pilot was assaulted in a city park in Utrecht.

DroneXL’s take

Incidents like these are exactly the reason why many drone pilots are very concerned about Remote ID for Drones (RID).

Remote ID for Drones will make the location of any drone pilot in the U.S. publicly available while they are flying their drone. With many prosumers and professional drones costing thousands of dollars, drone pilots will become easy targets for drone-haters and criminals.

We at DroneXL and many others in the drone community are very concerned about sharing the location of the drone pilot with the general public.

Let us know in the comments what you think about incidents like these and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules regarding Remote ID for Drones.