The Washington Nationals didn’t bother to get permission from the Federal Aviation Administration before using a small drone to take publicity photos during spring training, CBS News and the Associated Press jointly reported on Monday.
“No, we didn’t get it cleared, but we don’t get our pop flies cleared either and those go higher than this thing did,” an anonymous team official told The Associated Press.
A four-rotor drone was used for several days last month during the baseball team’s spring training in Florida. The team even uploaded footage of the drone in flight to Instagram. Here’s the thing: the FAA bars commercial use of drones, as the article puts it, “no matter how seemingly benign.” According to the article, use of the drone ceased the day after the Associated Press contacted the team about the matter.