Police arrest drone cameraman near Gatwick then struggle to land his vehicle
A British photographer was arrested while flying a drone camera near Gatwick airport yesterday, leaving officers struggling to land the craft on their own.
Fellow cameraman Darren Cool captured the incident on camera.
Video of the arrest obtained by ITV News Meridian shows freelancer Eddie Mitchell requesting to be allowed time to safely land his plane before he is detained.
"Let me bring this bloody thing down!" he protests.
"I've asked you to bring it down already, sir," an officer insists, before asking: "How do I bring it down?"
Mr Cool, who witnessed the incident, said the officers had grabbed Mr Mitchell in an "extremely aggressive way" and then "ripped the controller out of his hand" while the drone was still airborne.
Police eventually managed to land the drone, he said, but only after "some dangerous manoeuvres".
Mr Mitchell, who is one of a small number of journalists with approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to operate drones for commercial purposes, is a trained unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilot.
He says the location, near Gatwick, is part of the airport's air traffic control zone, but is not a no-fly area.
Surrey Police confirmed that a 49-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace.
Mr Mitchell tweeted an image of a document which showed he had been later released without charge:
Mr Mitchell told the Guardian:
This morning he said he is still waiting to have his UAV returned.