Drone flights over A-bomb Dome prohibited by city ordinance
Mar. 9, 2017
by Hiroaki Watanabe, Staff Writer
A photographer from the Chugoku Shimbun captured a drone flying over the A-bomb Dome, a World Heritage site located in Naka Ward, at approximately 1 p.m. on March 8. Flying drones above the Peace Memorial Park, including the A-bomb Dome, is strictly prohibited. The City of Hiroshima, the administrator of the Peace Memorial Park, is calling on the general public to refrain from flying drones within the vicinity of the park.
The drone captured by the Chugoku Shimbun photographer was being operated near the A-bomb Dome by an international visitor who was at the park with his family. At the time the photo was taken, the drone was flying above the dome’s iron roof then landed approximately one minute later. When the photographer told the person that flying drones in the vicinity of the Peace Memorial Park is prohibited, the man left the scene with the drone.
With regard to flying drones, the national government enacted a revision of the aviation law in December 2015, stating that, in principle, all drone flights over densely populated areas are prohibited. This law, however, does not apply to drones which weigh less than 200 grams. Notwithstanding this revision, the City of Hiroshima has banned the flights of any type of drone, regardless of size, since May 2015 in line with its own ordinance for the park.
According to the City of Hiroshima, it had not received any reports regarding drone flights either before or after the enforcement of this ordinance. And although, as an exception, flights for the purpose of special investigations are permitted on the condition that prior notice is submitted to the city before a flight of this nature, the city said it had received no such applications for the day concerned.
(Originally published on March 9, 2017)
A photographer from the Chugoku Shimbun captured a drone flying over the A-bomb Dome, a World Heritage site located in Naka Ward, at approximately 1 p.m. on March 8. Flying drones above the Peace Memorial Park, including the A-bomb Dome, is strictly prohibited. The City of Hiroshima, the administrator of the Peace Memorial Park, is calling on the general public to refrain from flying drones within the vicinity of the park.
The drone captured by the Chugoku Shimbun photographer was being operated near the A-bomb Dome by an international visitor who was at the park with his family. At the time the photo was taken, the drone was flying above the dome’s iron roof then landed approximately one minute later. When the photographer told the person that flying drones in the vicinity of the Peace Memorial Park is prohibited, the man left the scene with the drone.
With regard to flying drones, the national government enacted a revision of the aviation law in December 2015, stating that, in principle, all drone flights over densely populated areas are prohibited. This law, however, does not apply to drones which weigh less than 200 grams. Notwithstanding this revision, the City of Hiroshima has banned the flights of any type of drone, regardless of size, since May 2015 in line with its own ordinance for the park.
According to the City of Hiroshima, it had not received any reports regarding drone flights either before or after the enforcement of this ordinance. And although, as an exception, flights for the purpose of special investigations are permitted on the condition that prior notice is submitted to the city before a flight of this nature, the city said it had received no such applications for the day concerned.
(Originally published on March 9, 2017)
