Drone Use at Maloney’s Wedding Scrutinized, Criticized
When Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney married his longtime partner Randy Florke in a ceremony in Cold Spring last month, it was one of the biggest events in the village so far this year.
Now, part of that celebration is being scrutinized because of the use of a drone that caught the grand event on tape.
The Federal Aviation Authority confirmed in an email that the agency is investigating the report of an unmanned aircraft operation in Cold Spring on June 21 to determine if there was any violation of federal regulations or airspace restriction, though it never mentioned Maloney by name. Maloney is a Democrat and first term congressman representing all of Orange and Putnam counties and part of Dutchess and northern Westchester counties.
The report of a drone at the wedding was first written by the New York Daily News that said the use of the “helicopter-like drone appeared to violate a prohibition against flying drones for commercial purposes.”
Maloney hired New Jersey-based Propellerheads Aerial Photography to shoot video of the wedding, according to the Daily News and some of the footage was released on YouTube. The video has since been taken down. The man who runs the company, Peter Gyokeres, said he did not have permission from the FAA to use the aircraft that day, according to the Daily News.
Republican and former congresswoman Nan Hayworth, who is challenging Maloney for his seat, wasted no time lambasting Maloney for the possible infraction. Hayworth insisted Maloney should step down from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where Maloney serves because it oversees the FAA, which is investigating the incident. She called it a “conflict of interest.”
In an interview, Hayworth said Maloney was disregarding the law for his own personal purposes. She said Hudson Valley residents have a right to have a representative who follows the law like they are compelled to.
“There’s a fundamental attitude there. Am I bound by the laws that I’m obligated to create and carry out or am I not,” Hayworth said. “Am I bound by the same rules as my constituents are?”
While Hayworth pulled no punches, the Maloney camp downplayed the controversy.
“On their wedding day Sean and Randy were focused on a ceremony twenty-two years in the making, not their wedding photographer’s camera mounted on his remote control helicopter. Hardworking families fired Tea Party Congresswoman Nan Hayworth because they were tired of these political games and sent Sean to get results on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, like passing into law the bipartisan Dam Safety Act, working on commuter safety issues and investing billions in our infrastructure following Sandy, Irene and Lee,” Maloney spokesperson Stephanie Formas said.
The FAA stated it has a number of ways to enforce unauthorized drone use like “warning notices, letters of correction and civil penalties.”
Earlier this year, Judge Patrick Geraghty of the National Transpiration Safety Board ruled there was no enforceable FAA rule or regulation that applied to model aircrafts, which could be compared to the helicopter at the wedding.
