Kevin Morris, an FAA drone expert, told WTVJ that safety – and not curbing personal freedom – is the administration's only concern in adopting the additional safeguards.
"We really stress safety in everything that we do. One of the things we want to make sure that when people are attending, that they don't have to worry about drones in the air that might be flown by bad actors," Morris told the station, adding, "When we have large events attended by a lot of different people from around the world we need to enact some additional safety protocols."
According to the Miami Herald, the FAA will also restrict drone activity for a one-mile radius and up to 2,000 feet around two satellite areas more than 10 miles from the stadium, each expected to capture some of the hundreds of thousands of fans trekking to southern Florida to watch the Kansas City Chiefs battle the San Francisco 49ers. The ancillary sites subject to the drone ban include the Miami Beach Convention Center, which is hosting the Super Bowl Experience, and Miami's Bayfront Park, the staging ground for Super Bowl Live.
According to WTVJ, potential punishments for violating the "No Drone Zone" range from having your drone removed from the sky to fines of more than $30,000 and even federal prison time.
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