MOUNTAIN VIEW — A drone crashed into a high-voltage wire Thursday night, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage and knocking out power to roughly 1,600 people for about two hours, police said.
The outage was reported at 8:15 p.m. in the 200 block of Polaris Avenue. Witnesses told responding officers that a man with white hair had been flying a drone in the area when it crashed.
Drones cannot be flown within a 5-mile radius of an airport without proper notification, which includes areas such as Moffett Field, and they must be flown clear of obstacles.
“The FAA has rules and regulations in place to prevent this exact type of incident from happening,” said Mountain View police spokeswoman Katie Nelson. “We simply ask that people comply with the rules and that they operate drones safely and sensibly.”
The outage impacted City Hall and the library, the latter of which was evacuated out of an abundance of caution, police said. Power was restored to all 1,600 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers just after 11 p.m., but repairs were not completed until early Friday.
“Drones are fun until someone flies one into high-voltage power lines, causing 1,600 people in my neighborhood to lose power,” Google software engineer Adrienne Porter Felt said in a tweet.
Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the drone pilot, who was last seen leaving the area in a white hatchback. Anyone with information can call the anonymous tip line at 650-386-8063.
