Man charged with illegally flying drone near Seletar Airport, Paya Lebar Air Base

SINGAPORE — A 20-year-old man was charged in court on Tuesday (Aug 6) for flying a drone recreationally without a valid permit.

Court documents showed that Homen Wong allegedly flew the drone in the afternoon of Feb 8 last year, at the open field next to Sengkang LRT Station.

The field is situated within 5km of two aerodromes — Seletar Airport and Paya Lebar Air Base. 

Wong is accused of operating a 0.74kg DJI Mavic Pro unmanned aircraft without a Class 2 activity permit.

He told the court that he intends to plead guilty to the charge, and he will return to court on Sept 3.

If convicted under the Air Navigation Order, he could be fined up to S$20,000. Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to 15 months, or fined up to S$40,000, or both.

Last month, two men became the first individuals prosecuted here for flying drones without a permit near an airbase.

Ed Chen Junyuan, 37, and Tay Miow Seng, 40, were charged in court on July 5 for allegedly flying drones recreationally at an open field in Punggol, which is within 5km of the Paya Lebar Air Base. Their case is still pending.

One construction firm has also been dealt with in court for a similar offence.

The Singapore arm of LT Sambo, a civil engineering company that primarily deals with bridge, tunnel, viaduct and elevated highway construction, was fined S$9,000 last month for flying a DJI Phantom drone along Marine Parade Road in 2017 for business purposes without a permit.

The company had been carrying out underground foundation works for an MRT development project, and wanted to capture aerial footage of the vicinity for its construction work plan.

Mr Tan Kah Han, senior director of safety regulation and the director of airworthiness certification and unmanned aircraft systems at CAAS, told TODAY that the authority takes a serious view of errant operations of unmanned aircraft which may pose threats to aviation or endanger the safety of others. CAAS will not hesitate to take enforcement action against those who contravene regulations, he added.

"We remind members of the public to operate their unmanned aircraft safely and responsibly, and with the necessary permits." he said.

The CAAS website has more information about the do’s and don’ts of flying such aircraft, as well as the permit application requirements and processes for their operations in Singapore.