The civil aviation authority warned an unlicensed drone hobbyist that filmed airplanes landing at an airport in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, after his footage went viral.
The aviation authority stated on their official Weibo account: "It violated laws, and such a close distance constituted a substantial threat to the safety of the passengers and the civil plane."
The hobbyist was identified as a 23-year-old Hangzhou resident named Yuan. His drone was estimated to be about 8.5 kilometers from Hangzhou International Airport and flew 450 meters above the ground.
According to the police, it has recorded more than one aircraft landing in the 10-minute flight of his lightweight DJI Mavic Pro. DJI is a Chinese drone manufacturing giant based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.
The investigation is still ongoing. There is still no punishment announced for Yuan.
"We strongly condemn the use of this technology in areas that conflict with the safe and normal operation of manned air traffic," DJI stated.
According to Ke Yubao, the secretary-general of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China, only have of the estimated 20,000 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in China have driving licenses.
The AOPA is the only authorized body allowed to distribute Civil Unmanned Aircraft System Pilot Certificates. Their interim provisions indicated that drones that weigh less than 7 kilograms are not required to have the certificate, but are required to submit flight plans to relevant authorities.
Wang Zifeng, a UAV expert said: "Most recreational drones are used for leisure and are tricky to regulate. One cannot expect users to always do the right thing without being told what a right thing is, and therefore a regulatory framework for flying locations and heights is necessary."
According to a report from thepaper.cn, there were approximately 327 incidents all over the world where drones comes dangerously close to civil planes from Dec. 2013 to Sept. 2015.
The report also indicates that any future law or policy should be in accordance to China's own situation, and the standards should be well discussed to avoid excessive strictures..