What would you do?  
Would you tell PC plods that you will bring it back safely?

Would you activate return to home (knowing you are flying responsibly)?  It looks like a DJI controller.
or
Would you get as much action out of it as you can by disobeying the cops and puting others at risk?  (Like this guy seems to have done - my opinion.)

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-ne ... gatwick-aiport-near

For me, living here in America, I would not have been within 5 miles of the airport. It is always better to follow the rules, so that you are left alone to fly another day. If the photo is so important for a news journalist to get, there are other cameras that he could have used.

The plot thickens or should I say 'sickens'.  He was about talking photos of the result of a mobile home fire in which three people died.  The neighbours were upset by his intrusion and the police were about to remove the bodies from what was effectively a crime scene.  I think he should have any licence revoked.

http://www.theguardian.com/world ... st-drone-complaints

He was a journalist licensed by the CAA, he notified the police beforehand and he had the landowners permission.  Yet they arrested him after the neighbors complained?  I'm not familiar with the laws regarding freedom of the press in that part of the world but if a "complaint" is all it takes to arrest somebody, sheesh, why haven't they rounded up all the paparazzi who are far more intrusive and annoying.  This looks like a good test case for the courts.

Flying near an airport is never a good idea, no matter what. Every countries have their own laws, but I can only speak for Germany. Here, if you even lift the Phantom 1 foot above ground within 3 KM of an airport, this is a flying in a restricted airspace and will cost a minimum of 500 EUR. However, what the cops did to try and land the phantom themselves without a clue of what the hell they are doing is extremely recless. That mater should be investigated. We don't need cops with that attitude.

Why was he arrested anyway? No harm was done. in the UK but especially in the USA people get arrested for anything, this is insane, Just fine the people and that's it.

gil@wk.net Posted at 2014-12-31 22:19
He was a journalist licensed by the CAA, he notified the police beforehand and he had the landowners ...

OK two points
- he is reported to have done a course with a training company that gives a permit to fly for gain - fine.

- he is said to have obtained permission from the land owner to fly over.  That property is a mobile home site with many tenants who have just had a tragic experience of a mother and two children die in a fire.  I don't think the any of the tenants gave permission for the invasion of their privacy.  So he was asked to stop taking photos/videos - mainly for his own safety and avoid possible breaches of the peace.

talk2t_c Posted at 2015-1-2 01:33
OK two points
- he is reported to have done a course with a training company that gives a permit t ...

You say "he was asked..."?!?  Good grief, he was manhandled and manacled.  I don't know what photos of the event you were looking at,  the ones I saw show the police forcefully taking the remote control while the Phantom was still in the air.  
See for yourself: https://twitter.com/brightonsnapper/media

I again ask rhetorically, why they don't do the same with paparazzi?  Kinda ironic, they didn't stop whoever was taking photos of the Police "asking" the Phantom pilot to stop taking pictures.

They were being d*#& and wanted to play with his Phantom

No - he was milking it (look at his smiling face) and another paper guy (probably someone he knew) was snapping shots of it.
Anyway it gives us all a bad name.

huntarr@sbcglob Posted at 2015-1-2 02:23
They were being d*#& and wanted to play with his Phantom

Looks like crossing guards to me   But the subject news reporters, They are all trouble makers anyway. I would have just shot it down if it were even a real situation.