Have you hit a wall of red tape and are unable to personally collect your drone from the Civil Aviation Authority? Does it seem to you that everything and everyone is secretly conspiring to prevent its return?

Or perhaps you want to write off the drone and the footage taken and stored on the memory cards that come with the seized drone?

You could even be arrested! I mean, probably not in the Czech Republic, but in Zimbabwe, in 2007 I was almost arrested for taking a photo in a shop with sold-out shelves, which after all I didn't even take. Since then, I know that uniforms, railway stations, presidential palaces and outlet stores are not photographed.

Your drone has been seized by the police and is at the Civil Aviation Authority. You paid the fine and now you want your drone back. The authority finally gives you the drone but refuses to send it. But you can pick it up in person. But you are no longer in Prague and you can't pick it up in person.

It's more complicated than you might think!

The situation is complicated by the fact that the drone cannot be picked up by anyone, e.g. a courier driver unknown to you in advance. The person in question must show a Power of Attorney containing an ID number. The actual pick up of the drone takes about 20 minutes and no courier will take that much time to pick it up.

If you entrust the Power of Attorney to a friend who is in Prague on vacation or lives here, then after picking it up you will find that sending the drone by air is completely impossible for the individual.

Why?

Drones containing Li-Ion batteries fall under the so-called DGR (Dangerous Goods Regulations). These goods can only be shipped by a person certified to do so by IATA (International Air Transport Association) which has a contract with an air carrier that transports these goods on board their plane and then across the route in certified trucks and vans to the destination address.

This person is also responsible for the safe packaging of the goods. They are responsible for ensuring that no accidents occur during transport, e.g. that the plane does not crash due to a fire in the cargo hold. This means that there is no material damage or loss of life.

Li-ion batteries are much more dangerous to transport than transporting radioactive elements together with explosives.

I can't believe this! After all, I brought my drone on a plane without much trouble or attention from anyone else!

Yes and no. Although you brought your drone on the plane without any attention at first, sending it back independently is not that easy. There is a difference between carrying Li-ion batteries (with the drone or in a laptop) in the passenger compartment and the baggage and cargo compartment. The packaging must meet the prescribed rules and the shipment must be declared so that the captain of the plane knows about it. Yes indeed, the captain of the plane responsible for the safe flight and the lives of the passengers knows about every dangerous good on board.

All carriers are afraid of burning Li-ion batteries, which have a burning point of 2000 degrees Celsius and are difficult to extinguish on the ground let alone in a flying plane. In addition, the oxygen (O2) in the air or water you would think to extinguish greatly promotes combustion. It's like not pouring gasoline on a fire. That's why all carriers have great respect for batteries.

Why can't the Civil Aviation Authority send you a drone?

It's a government organization that even trains shippers to ship dangerous goods, so it doesn't offer that service, nor does it have the necessary contracts with carriers. It is a state-established organisation that fulfils functions by law, and the law does not oblige them to send seized drones around the world.

Although they do not send drones, they treat dangerous goods and Li-ion batteries with such respect that it shocks you. They don't just store them on a shelf or in a cupboard like everyone else but have special fireproof bags to store the batteries in.