Tourist fined $12k for flying drone over Marina Bay during Singapore vacation

SINGAPORE — It was the first day of his vacation here and he was supposed to get into the holiday mood.

But a tourist got into trouble instead when he flew a drone illegally to take aerial shots of Marina Bay.

On July 25, a month after he stepped foot in Singapore, Chinese national Zhong Zhensheng, 68, was fined $12,000 after he pleaded guilty to three offences under the Air Navigation Act.

Two other charges under the same Act were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The court heard that Zhong, a retiree, and his wife arrived in Singapore on June 25, at about 1pm.

Later that day, Zhong headed to Marina Barrage as he wanted to fly his DJI Mavic Air 2 drone to take aerial photographs of Marina Bay.

He took 38 photographs on two separate flights with the drone. The flights lasted about 12 to 13 minutes each and reached a maximum altitude of 148m above mean sea level.

Marina Barrage was gazetted as a protected area under the Air Navigation Act in March 2024. This means anyone operating a drone in the area for recreational purposes above 60m above mean sea level is required to obtain a permit.

At about 5.30pm the same day, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) detected Zhong's drone and called the police.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Cheah Wenjie told the court that Zhong had registered his drone in China, and knew operating an unmanned aircraft is subject to regulation, including in Singapore.

Noting that Zhong had failed to do his reasonable due diligence, DPP Cheah said: "A simple online search of the area (Zhong) was in would have told him that Marina Bay was a protected place, not an area where he could fly a drone."

The prosecutor asked for a fine of at least $15,000 to $18,000, while Zhong's defence lawyer Daniel Loh of BR Law Corporation argued for a $9,000 fine.

Loh said Zhong did not see any signage in the Marina Barrage area which prohibited drone flying, which led him to think it was safe to operate the drone there.

The drone also has a built-in feature that is supposed to detect whether an area is safe for flying, but it was not updated with official data.

"Given all the accumulation of circumstances, it was really an unwitting event that any hapless individual could have fallen into," said the lawyer.

Loh also said his client had only intended to stay in Singapore for two days, and has been "stranded" here because of the court case.

CAAS dealt with 309 cases of illegal use of drones in 2023. Among these cases, eight people and seven companies were hauled to court. The 15 court cases resulted in fines of between $4,000 and $45,000 for the perpetrators. The other 294 drone operators were issued composition fines, stern warnings or advisories.

The aviation authority said in April 2024 that it has intensified efforts to educate the public on unlawful drone operations, including installing "no flying" signs in open fields and parks near Changi Airport.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.