Milan, drone in Piazza Duomo: Mexican Tourist Fined €33,000

Read the original article on Corriere della Sera (in Italian). By Alessandro Vinci

An incredibly high penalty for a 41-year-old who, unaware of the prohibition, flew a small Mavic Air 2 to film the area. The lawyer protests: “Disproportionate fine.”

He thought he was doing nothing wrong by using his drone, weighing just 570 grams and only slightly larger than a beer can, to capture spectacular aerial images of Piazza Duomo in Milan. Instead, as soon as the device lifted off from the cathedral’s parvis, he was approached by officers from the Duomo Operational Unit who issued him a massive fine of €33,000 (in addition to seizing the small aircraft). This is the unfortunate incident that happened on Tuesday to a 41-year-old Mexican tourist, subject to a penalty that is almost an understatement to call exorbitant. His fault? Violating the Air Navigation Code. Italian law considers drones over 300 grams to be aircraft in all respects, thereby obligating those who pilot them to have specific authorizations. Furthermore, in this specific case, the device was flown in an area marked as “critical,” and therefore constantly prohibited for this type of activity. It’s easy to understand how the combination of these factors led to such an astronomical bill.

No Warning Signs. At first glance, one might think the tourist is undeniably at fault. The fact is, however, that there wasn’t a single sign in the area indicating the prohibition in force. Neither in Italian nor in any other language. Not surprisingly, the man is already the third (unaware) foreigner this year to be fined for this reason: the first was a Chinese tourist, then it was a young American woman (who was recording in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele). Certainly, the ancient principle that “Ignorantia legis non excusat” (Ignorance of the law is no excuse) remains a cornerstone, yet the absence of anti-drone warnings in one of the most famous areas in Italy, especially for the benefit of those coming from countries where the practice is less regulated, appears to be a far-from-minor oversight. This is also the opinion of Andrea Aloi, the lawyer the Mexican tourist contacted to assert his rights: “It is difficult for tourists to be aware of EASA flight rules, and therefore an adequate information campaign, perhaps through the placement of multilingual signs, would be appropriate,” he stated. Furthermore, in his judgment, “the fine appears disproportionate as it refers to a small drone of about 500 grams used for amateur filming.”

The Mavic Air 2. More specifically, the device at the center of the incident is a Mavic Air 2 produced by the Chinese company Dji. A quadcopter that combines small dimensions—180 x 97 x 84 millimeters when folded, 183 × 253 × 77 millimeters when unfolded—with respectable performance. Equipped with a flight autonomy of about 30 minutes and a maximum speed of 68 kilometers per hour, it has a 48 Megapixel sensor capable of shooting photos in RAW and recording videos in 4K up to 60 fps or in slow-motion in FullHD at 240 fps. Cost of the basic version: €849. Further details at this dedicated link.


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