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Photojournalist arrested after using drone near Gatwick

A photojournalist has been arrested by police after using a drone near Gatwick Airport. Eddie Mitchell - approval by the CAA to commercially operate small unmanned aircraft - was held for hours.

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VIDEO: The moment a freelance cameraman is arrested by police

Here's the moment when photojournalist Eddie Mitchell was arrested by police for flying a drone near Gatwick Airport. Surrey Police officers are filmed arresting him for breach of the peace - and are then seen trying to land the drone themselves.

Mr Mitchell - who works freelance for a range of news organisations - had been flying the drone near the scene of a fatal fire in Surrey.

He says the location, near Gatwick, is part of the airport's air traffic control zone, but is not a no-fly area. He is a trained drone pilot and is one of the few journalists approved by the Civil Aviation Authority to commercially operate drones. He said he did not need to alert air traffic as his drone was weighing under 7kg.

Mr Mitchell was held in custody for a number of hours, before being released. It's thought police believed he had been operating the drone in a no-fly zone.

"A man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of breaching the peace."

– Surrey Police

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