Drone carrying package crashes in Gurugram locality; FIR against company

PTI, Feb 16, 2024, 8:02 PM IST

Representative image (source: Pexels)

Gurugram: A drone on way to deliver a package hit the rooftop of a house before falling on the ground, triggering a scare in a residential locality here, police said on Friday.

The incident took place in G Block of South City 2 residential area around 5 pm on Thursday, they said.

Police said the drone was being flown by Skye Air at a time when prohibitory orders are enforced due to Chief Minister M L Khattar’s visit in the district and a case has been registered against the company.

The RWA of the society informed the Sector 50 police station about the incident and a police team reached the spot.

When contacted, logistics solution provider Skye Air said the pilot, after getting to know about the prohibitory orders, ”attempted to make an emergency landing on a building in compliance with the law”.

Use of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones etc.) in Gurugram district was banned on February 15 and 16 in accordance with the prohibitory orders enforced under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Based on a complaint, an FIR was registered against Skye Air under Indian Penal Code sections 188 ( disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 287 (negligent conduct to respect to machinery), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) at Sector 50 police station on Thursday night.

The drone crashed due to some technical fault, police said citing the FIR.

”We have taken the damaged drone into possession and are investigating. Action will be taken against the company in accordance with law,” said Inspector Jitender Kumar, SHO of Sector 50 police station.

A Skye Air spokesperson, meanwhile, stated that the company has all the necessary permissions to fly the drone as these UAVs are ”used in emergency deliveries including health care”.

”Yesterday, the drone was on its routine flight, and around 5 pm, we received a notification on Twitter (now X) that Section 144 had been imposed. Consequently, our pilot attempted to make an emergency landing on a building in compliance with the law, but the building’s surface was not smooth, causing the drone to hit the plant pots,” the spokesperson said.

Skye Air entered into a partnership with an e-commerce platform this month for delivery of packages by drones.