Drones used to capture birds-eye views of wedding ceremonies

Updated
Vows  Here Comes the Drone
Vows Here Comes the Drone



One of the major decisions during wedding planning is who to trust with the camera. Lately, couples are choosing to trust drones.

With the remote-controlled devices, couples are able to get a birds-eye view of their wedding.

Recently, headlines have been highlighting the use of a drone to tape New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney's wedding, which many claim to be a violation of the Federal Aviation Administration rules.

The FFA makes it clear that unless you're flying for recreational purposes or as a hobby, you need FFA approval. They even provide "dos" and "don'ts." One of the restrictions being,

"Don't fly model aircraft for payment or commercial purposes."


And since Congressman Maloney is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's aviation subcommittee, which has some area of authority over the FAA - some think there is no excuse.

Especially his Republican challenger in the upcoming election, Nan Hayworth who lost to Maloney in 2012.

According to Lohud, Hayworth issued a statement Tuesday calling on Maloney to step down as a member of the subcommittee.

But according to The New York Times, Maloney was unaware of the aviation restrictions on drones at the time.

"Like most people who are about to get married, I wasn't up-to-date on the lack of regulations around the emerging technology of a wedding photographer mounting a camera on a remote control helicopter."

ABC brings to light where some of the confusion may have stemmed – it actually wasn't the congressman who requested the drone, it was all the videographer's idea.

The photographer who captured the aerial footage, Parker Gyokeres, gave his source material to the videographer while uploading the B-roll footage online - which then caused the chaos. He told ABC:

"This video, I feel horrible about, because it's not the congressman's video."​

Gyokeres apparently got permission from the local sheriffs department to shoot the video, and he hasn't been contacted by the FAA yet.

NBC reports, "The FAA has been dragging their feet on this, and the longer they wait, the more and more folks are going out there and flying without any rules." ​

And Gyokeres tells The New York Times that those rules aren't even going to cut it.

"There's an explosion of this technology, and it's not going to go away if they just tell us we can't use it. We want the FFA to tell us how to operate as safely as possible, and not flying is not the answer."

The New York Times says Mr. Gyokeres has been an Air Force photojournalist since 2006. When he retires in a month he wants to use the drone he built himself to make aerial videography his profession.

He understands the safety hazards of flying near people and uses a thirty point safety checklist to make sure things don't end poorly.

The FAA continues to emphasize safety as their main priority. Hayworth will face Maloney again in the November election.

Drone Used For Congressman's Wedding Sparks Debate
Drone Used For Congressman's Wedding Sparks Debate



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