White House Drone Crash: Pilot Was Drunk

Nearly 2 days after a small drone crashed on the White House's grounds, someone finally came forward to admit responsibility for the incident.

"A US official said the man made contact with the Secret Service after reports of the crash spread in the media on Monday," Yahoo! News reported, citing also that the official in question "wasn't authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly."

"The man told the Secret Service that he was using the drone recreationally and didn't mean to fly it over the White House," the news source added.

Authorities have not provided much details about the drone's pilot, although it was revealed that the person was a Washington resident and that he's currently cooperating with the investigation. Right now, the Secret Service is checking testimonies from other people to corroborate the man's account, according to the US official.

"The official said investigators don't have any reason to doubt the man's story," Yahoo! News said in closing.

Further, Mashable noted that the man in question is reportedly an "employee of a government outfit called the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency."

It was also learned that the man "had been drinking in a friend's apartment near the White House" and that, according to The New York Times, had "lost control of the drone as he operated it from an apartment just blocks from the White House."

"He texted his friends, worried that the drone had gone down on the White House grounds, and then went to sleep," the publication said. "It was not until the next morning, when he woke and learned from friends that a drone had been found at the White House, that he contacted his employer, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency."

The man then proceeded to contact the Secret Service and cooperated with their investigation.

Coincidentally, President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama was not in the building. The President has since spoken about the incident, saying that he had inquired with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on how the U.S. is managing such flying devices as "the drone that landed in the White House you buy in RadioShack," Reuters reported.

The drone, a DJI Phantom quadcopter, managed to avoid detection by the White House radar, which The New York Times said is "calibrated to warn of much bigger threats, like an airplane or a missile."

Although flying drones is actually illegal in Washington, DC, the Secret Service has, so far, no "official policy on drones that breach the White House perimeter."

This recent security breach is one of a series of incidents that appeared to compromise the White House's security, bringing the Secret Service under scrutiny, Reuters said.

"The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia will review the case and decide whether to prosecute," the news outlet added.