VIDEO: Drone crashes into Space Needle

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By Casey McNerthney

A video released Wednesday by the Space Needle shows a drone crashing into the Seattle icon during the preparation for New Year’s.

Pyro technicians were startled when a drone crashed near them 575 feet above ground, Space Needle staff said.

“It looks like the drone tractor beam we installed on the Space Needle is working,” joked Ron Sevart, Space Needle CEO and President.  “This is the third time we’ve recovered a drone on our property.”

Space Needle was not damaged, though the drone was. Seattle police recovered the drone, and the incident was reported to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Later this month, the Drone Advisory Committee is expected to help the FAA prioritize its efforts to integrate drones into the national airspace.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the creation of the DAC as a federal advisory committee in May 2016, and the DAC first met in September 2016.

Someone who wants to fly a drone or fun only has to register with the FAA and pledge not to fly it near airports, planes or stadiums.

But someone who wants to fly a drone for a business purpose, such as a photographer who wants to get an aerial view of a fire or a crime scene, would have to get a license.

Those licenses were first issued in August 2016. New federal rules attempted to make it easier for drone operators to legally fly the aircraft for businesses purposes.

Days after the licenses were available, the Federal Aviation Administration said 3,300 people signed up to take a pilots’ test Monday, and analysts expect to have more than 170,000 commercially licensed drone operators by the end of 2016.

Information from the KIRO7.com archive is included in this report.

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