Man who crashed drone on White House lawn will not be charged

WASHINGTON — An intelligence agency employee whose drone crashed on the White House lawn earlier this year won’t face criminal charges.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington says the operator, who works for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, was piloting the drone near the White House early on Jan. 26 when he lost control of it. Assuming it had crashed somewhere on the National Mall, the unidentified man went to bed.

The drone was later found on the White House lawn and a forensic analysis concluded that the operator was not in control of the drone when it crashed.

Federal prosecutors say the Federal Aviation Administration is now reviewing the case. The airspace over much of Washington, including the White House, is off limits to aircraft, including commercially available drones.