2 acquitted of endangering flights with drone near Taoyuan Airport

Taipei, Dec. 23 (CNA) The Taoyuan District Court on Thursday found two men not guilty of endangering flight safety when they repeatedly flew a drone near Taoyuan International Airport in mid-2023.

According to the court ruling, the two defendants, Lien Yung-wang (連永旺) and Huang Kai-hui (黃凱暉), operated the unmanned aerial vehicle in the vicinity of the airport at least 10 times between June 24 and July 25 last year.

However, there was insufficient evidence to prove that the pair's conduct met the requirements for criminal conviction under Article 101 of Taiwan's Civil Aviation Act, which stipulates a maximum sentence of seven years for any person who "endangers flight safety or aviation facilities by force, threat or other means."

The decision may be appealed.

The court ruling said the police had received a report of illegal drone activity in a restricted airspace area on July 25, 2023, and subsequently found Lien and Huang after stopping their vehicle in Taoyuan City's Luzhu District.

During the trial, 62-year-old Lien admitted to operating the drone for the purpose of "simply taking aerial photographs of beautiful scenery" but said that it had only entered the restricted area after he lost control of it due to signal problems.

Huang, 35, argued that he had merely driven Lien to the area and waited in the car while Lien flew the drone. Huang said he was unaware of the drone's flight range.

The drone's activity disrupted traffic at Taiwan's busiest airport in June and July 2023, with the most serious incident leading to a temporary suspension of takeoffs and landings at around 3 p.m. on June 29.