I was on vacation 3 days ago in Bucharest Romania - I take my drone DJI -SPARK with me -  
I took pictures in the garden in the city  Close to the Romanian parliament   I asked before whether it was possible to take a photo here with a my drone -  
And they told me yes -  
In short, it's a long and tedious story   The police arrested me for 11 hours   They claimed I flew my drone without a permit  (dji spark don't need  registering until 0.5 kg)


After 11 hours at the police station  - The police took my dji spark combo with new ipad 9.7  without a reason -  I just want to warn people  
Stay away from the parliament building      Because I've lost my drone  

Ough! Sorry for your loss mate, that's a real heartbreaker right there.

May I ask who you got the permission from? Did you have that permission in some written form?
I don't point fingers at you, looks like you tried your best to be careful. Just to get a context and learn from your incident.

Did you get your stuff back eventually? I guess not, since you wrote "lost"... Are you still there? Any chance of recovering it?

I will keep flying my Spark away from people and buildings.

djiuser_Kf4iPA3 Posted at 2017-10-10 04:18
May I ask who you got the permission from? Did you have that permission in some written form?
I don't point fingers at you, looks like you tried your best to be careful. Just to get a context and learn from your incident.

I went home two days ago   - I don't see how  I can receive  my stuff back  

I think I have read somewhere, that outside of cities you dont need a extra permission for <500gr drones.
Also: Have you had a Drone- Insurance?
There are more things to look at, methinks!
Anyway, that is still a country where a lawyers adress at hand is not a disadvantage

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-10 05:18
I think I have read somewhere, that outside of cities you dont need a extra permission for

hi - I don't have any Insurance for the drone -  
Maybe through a lawyer something could be done

Probably some corrupt policeman is now flying with your drone in bucharest.

fans61699a75 Posted at 2017-10-10 05:36
Probably some corrupt policeman is now flying with your drone in bucharest.

That can be. ;-)

Anyone has testet the app from this guy?
https://foxnomad.com/2017/07/25/ ... -updated-regularly/
The website seems to deliver some solid information (quickly checked against some of my latest and future fly-targets, looks ok)

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-10 05:45
That can be. ;-)

Anyone has testet the app from this guy?

I don't know how updated this is or where he gets his data from, but Israel is signed red... I don't think that's true.
DJI actually has an official agent and several licensed importers here.
Flying drones for recreational purposes doesn't require a license, and I don't recall laws in place which are senseless or don't exist in other countries.

Granted, I'm an Israeli citizen, and I can't testify about the attitude toward foreign nationals bringing drones with them.

Click on the flags, the app is for being mobil, his website works too:

Israel

*Drones over 300 grams require a permit prior to be imported into the country.
(https://forms.gov.il/globaldata/ ... oldgen%40mot.gov.il)


Does that sound right?
And would be a red flag for all "Non-israelis", in my eyes.

I think I make a check-topic out of it!

fans61699a75 Posted at 2017-10-10 05:36
Probably some corrupt policeman is now flying with your drone in bucharest.

I'm pretty sure that's what happens now   dji  can  lock the spark ?   
Does anyone know?

I would compare this to flying around the Capital building in the United States.   

Considering that building houses a senate for that country. I'm not surprised you were detained and lost your drone.  

I don't care who you ask that just screams red flags to me.  

I could totally understand why you WOULD need a permit for that location.   

Yep!
On the mentioned website it says:

Romania

*Drones over 500 grams (1.1 lbs) must be registered with the Romanian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). (http://www.caa.ro/supervizare/operare-uav-uas)

*Drones over 15kg (33 lbs) must have an airworthiness certificate issued by the Romanian CAA.

*Flights in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve require prior permission.

*Flights requiring informing the Flight Activity Center / Romanian Ministry of Defense.

*Flights over crowded areas are not permitted.

*Drones may not take off or land in a city area.

fansacc9126e Posted at 2017-10-10 06:15
I'm pretty sure that's what happens now   dji  can  lock the spark ?   
Does anyone know?

I would not have left them for sure. There is no way they had the right for that.
Have you got any report about what did they took from you, with the name of the officer?
Anyway, you should try to contact the police department and tell them what happened, if it was a corrupt person, maybe they will help.
Sorry for your loss.

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-10 06:14
Click on the flags, the app is for being mobil, his website works too:

Israel

This is for importing a drone. That is, an Israeli who brings a drone in and keeps it in Israel (there's room there to fill details for customs).
From my understanding it doesn't apply to foreign nationals who bring drones in temporarily and take it with them when they leave.
But I can't be 100% sure about it.
There is a holiday in Israel now. Next week after the holiday I will try to check it out, and report here.

vasi Posted at 2017-10-10 06:27
I would not have left them for sure. There is no way they had the right for that.
Have you got any report about what did they took from you, with the name of the officer?
Anyway, you should try to contact the police department and tell them what happened, if it was a corrupt person, maybe they will help.

Unfortunately I had no choice  After 11 hours at the police station it is not easy  I have a "proof" document that they gave me

You might want to try contacting the Romanian embassy in your country to see if they intervene. I would guess that negative publicity like this would not be wanted and they may be willing to help. There will be some record of your 'stay' in the police station so it might be worth a try.

embayweather Posted at 2017-10-10 07:02
You might want to try contacting the Romanian embassy in your country to see if they intervene. I would guess that negative publicity like this would not be wanted and they may be willing to help. There will be some record of your 'stay' in the police station so it might be worth a try.

Good idea!
May shine a bit light in the overall situation

embayweather Posted at 2017-10-10 07:02
You might want to try contacting the Romanian embassy in your country to see if they intervene. I would guess that negative publicity like this would not be wanted and they may be willing to help. There will be some record of your 'stay' in the police station so it might be worth a try.

yes - right ok I wiil try to contacting the Romanian embassy ... maybe he can help

oh no. sorry for your loss.  Are you going to check on getting it back?  Hopefully the cops didn't take it to fly it for their pleasure.

My suggestion for every travel outside your comfort zone would be to contact the local embassy in the first place and inform yourself about the drone regulations of your travel destination.

Btw.: Did you get your phone back?
Or is that gone too?

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-10 09:23
Btw.: Did you get your phone back?
Or is that gone too?

my phone stay with me in the all this day -   
The police take my SPRAK COMBO with 3 Batteries - and my IPAD 9.7  With him I used

Bytestorm Posted at 2017-10-10 09:18
My suggestion for every travel outside your comfort zone would be to contact the local embassy in the first place and inform yourself about the drone regulations of your travel destination.

opsi, so new regulations all over the world, right now.
I would wonder, if every embassy did have the newest version, if any at all, already!
I was looking a lot, in the past month.
And it really seems to be 2017, which was the year for all this "unfriendly" changes in the laws!
So pretty new.

Sparky_17 Posted at 2017-10-10 09:13
oh no. sorry for your loss.  Are you going to check on getting it back?  Hopefully the cops didn't take it to fly it for their pleasure.

I try to - ... But when I'm not there (Bucharest)  It seems like an impossible Mission unfortunately

fansacc9126e Posted at 2017-10-10 09:28
my phone stay with me in the all this day -   
The police take my SPRAK COMBO with 3 Batteries - and my IPAD 9.7  With him I used

I ment the iPad, sry, my bad.

So Spark and iPad it is.

If you aren't to far away:
Don't call, go to the embassy yourself!
Good dressed, with a lot of time and ask your way step for step to someone, who can and want to be involved!

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-10 09:33
I ment the iPad, sry, my bad.

So phone and iPad it is.

I'll try   
If there is any good news, I will update here

fansacc9126e Posted at 2017-10-10 09:31
I try to - ... But when I'm not there (Bucharest)  It seems like an impossible Mission unfortunately

Why did they keep it if it was under the .5kg regulations?  Did they tell you why? and is there a possibility they will give it back after they finish there investigation?

Sparky_17 Posted at 2017-10-10 09:37
Why did they keep it if it was under the .5kg regulations?  Did they tell you why? and is there a possibility they will give it back after they finish there investigation?

When the police returned my  ID - The policeman told me that my stuff would be here for test for a few days

My advice for all places where you aren't sure if you can fly legally with your spark: stay away from people and buildings, don't fly too high and too far and as soon as you might notice somebody around who doesn't like what you are doing, just land your Spark and move away from that place.
For me some places are quite normal you can't fly: near airports, government buildings, jails, cities etc.
So fly safe and wise and you will reduce drastically the chance your drone will be confiscated.

fansacc9126e Posted at 2017-10-10 09:44
When the police returned my  ID - The policeman told me that my stuff would be here for test for a few days

That is a good thing .. or atleast a good chance you'll get it back ..

fansacc9126e Posted at 2017-10-10 09:44
When the police returned my  ID - The policeman told me that my stuff would be here for test for a few days

Oh, good!
That means, you have to ask something specific in the embassy!
How the procedere, that the police officer described, will lead to that you get your stuff back.
Or how to get the information, if and how to get it back.
That can be a door opener.
And appologize for the trouble, you were misinformed about the law and had the idea, the permission you asked and the guards(?)/staff(?) gave to you, would be enough.

My guess, if it wouldn't be the parliament, no one would have even looked up, if flown somewhere in the city.
I'd say, you have chances to get Sparky and iTaby back.
May cost you a UPS fee or such

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-10 09:53
Oh, good!
That means, you have to ask something specific in the embassy!
How the procedere, that the police officer described, will lead to that you get your stuff back.

I hope I get it all back  But unfortunately I do not believe the Romanian police -
After all, I'm no longer in Romania -

DJI doesn't "give permssion"... you usually need something written down... So sorry!

I'm sorry to read your experience. The drone can not be locked. Anyway, a tough lesson.

DJI Susan Posted at 2017-10-12 20:00
I'm sorry to read your experience. The drone can not be locked. Anyway, a tough lesson.

I understand - Thanks

Thanks for the heads up!

fansacc9126e Posted at 2017-10-13 09:38
I understand - Thanks

Don't give up hope buddy.

djiuser_Kf4iPA3 Posted at 2017-10-10 06:29
This is for importing a drone. That is, an Israeli who brings a drone in and keeps it in Israel (there's room there to fill details for customs).
From my understanding it doesn't apply to foreign nationals who bring drones in temporarily and take it with them when they leave.
But I can't be 100% sure about it.

Did you find any more info about foreign nationals bringing a drone into Israel? Thanks!