Pacific Airshow Gold Coast drone dopes facing huge fines for actions

A number of people are facing huge fines after launching drones from a surprise location during the Pacific Airshow on the Gold Coast.

Two people are facing hefty penalties after launching drones off the balconies of Surfers Paradise high-rises during the Pacific Airshow on the Gold Coast.

The pair are likely to be slugged fines of more than a thousand dollars, with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) last week warning that penalties of up to $1650 per offence apply.

Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles said the drone operators had been tracked down with the aid of special technology used by authorities at the Airshow.

“Unfortunately some people didn’t heed our warnings and launched drones. So there’s a couple of people that have been referred to CASA around launching drones into restricted flight areas, but that will be a matter for CASA to address,” he said.

“There were three drones. We’ve cautioned one (person). Two of them have been referred to CASA.

“Our technology that we’ve got at the moment for the Airshow allows us to track them and, if we need to, actually take the drown down.”

The Red Roulettes on day three of the Pacific Airshow. Picture: Glenn Campbell.

Acting Supt Knowles said flying drones during the three-day Airshow, which was attended by a “record crowd” of more than 400,000 people, posed a risk not just to aircraft but to spectators.

“They launched them from a couple of towers in Surfers Paradise CBD itself, with the intention of capturing the Airshow, the crowds, those sorts of things,” he said.

“Given it was a restricted flight area in the first place, and secondly they were launching it over large crowds, that presents a significant risk to both the crowd and the aircraft that were flying there.”

Chief Supt Knowles said crowds were otherwise well behaved across the weekend. Nine arrests were made and 14 charges issued. Of those, one was for possession of a knife, which was detected during police wanding operations.

John Warn, Jeff Boerboo, Emma McDonald, Sean McCabe and Kevin Elliott. Picture: Ashleigh Jansen.

Organisers said the Pacific Airshow was also a financial success – generating upwards of $30 million for the visitor economy compared to last year’s $25m.

Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn said the event was “here to stay” with the potential to become “the biggest event in the country.”

“We’re very excited about its future – to see year two be this successful, to have new programming, new shows up in the air, but also a lot of amazing new activations on the beach and in and around the Gold Coast showcases the huge potential of this event,” he said.

Pacific Airshow boss Kevin Elliott said plans are in motion to bring the event back next year at an even bigger capacity – with more events across the city.

“We’ve got a huge plan for what we want to do – I don’t know that we’ll necessarily expand the precinct, but we probably will modify it and change it and continue to increase its (the events) size,” he said.

Mr Elliott said they hope to increase crowd capacity and visitation next year by extending events into the evenings, with Mr Warn adding the Airshow along with the City hope to create a week-long “festival” event.

Bushfire bomber on day three of the Pacific Airshow. Picture: Glenn Campbell.

“We have a lot of ideas,” Mr Elliott said.

“We’re not short on ideas – I’m confident that we’ll be bringing many of those to fruition.”

The drone incidents were the second to occur at an Australian airshow recently.

CASA reported that a drone was also flown during a display over Mindil Beach in Darwin last month, forcing organisers and Royal Australian Air Force air traffic controllers to stop the event until the drone was landed. The drone operators was identified by police and referred to CASA.