Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption A pilot has been jailed for reckless endangerment when his drone hit a member of the public 
 
 The owner of an aerial photography business has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after a drone he was operating knocked a woman unconscious. 
 
 Paul Skinner was found guilty of reckless endangerment, by a judge at the Seattle Municipal Court. 
 
 It is believed to be the first time a drone pilot has been given a jail sentence. 
 
 The incident happened during Seattle's 2015 Pride Parade. 
 
 According to the police, the 18in (45cm) by 18in drone crashed into a building and fell into the crowd, injuring two people. 
 
 Judge Willie Gregory said he acknowledged that the incident was an accident but added that the pilot had "engaged in conduct that put people in danger of being injured". 
 
 Close calls 
 
 Prosecutor Pete Holmes said the faulty operation of drones was a "serious public-safety issue that will only get worse" and more prosecutions could follow. 
 
 Ravi Vaidyanathan, a drone expert from Imperial College London, said he was "not aware of anything previously resulting in jail time". 
 
 He said it was inevitable more accidents would follow and called on the regulatory bodies that governed drone use to provide "a consistent set of guidelines on usage". 
 
 "In the US, there are rules for commercial use but different ones for hobbyists. We are in uncharted territory, but the guidelines have to be consistent." 
 
 He added the inconvenience to the public was also "non-trivial". 
 
 "Having a drone buzzing around does not add to most people's beach experience, for example, and we need to think about this too." 
 
 During the past fiscal year, more than 1,200 possible collisions between an aircraft and a drone were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration. 
 
 The FAA was unable to confirm any strikes, but it has reported several close calls, including a Lufthansa jet approaching Los Angeles that passed within 200ft (60m) of a drone. ||||| While 30 days of jail time and $500 in fines are but a tiny fraction of what Skinner faced, his lawyer, Jeffrey Kradel, believes the punishment is still too severe for something that was clearly an accident. He told the Seattle Times that he thinks his client is being used as an example to scare other drone pilots. Assistant City Prosecutor Raymond Lee, however, told Seattle residents that they "should not fear a drone strike falling from the sky" and that Skinner created the situation that ended up harming a couple of people. 
 
 Skinner has another hearing scheduled to determined how much he owes the woman for her medical bills. He'll also have to take a drone safety course even if Kradel goes through with his plan to appeal the verdict. ||||| The case marked the first time the Seattle City Attorney’s Office has charged anyone with mishandling a drone in a public space. 
 
 A man who was found guilty of reckless endangerment after his drone injured two people during Seattle’s 2015 Pride Parade, including a woman knocked unconscious, was sentenced Friday to 30 days in jail. 
 
 The sentence, which also included a $500 fine, was imposed on Paul M. Skinner, 38, by Seattle Municipal Court Willie Gregory, according to the City Attorney’s Office. 
 
 Gregory told Skinner, who lost control of the drone, he recognized the incident that injured the parade goers was an accident, the office said in a news release. 
 
 But Skinner had “engaged in conduct that put people in danger of being injured, which is what happened,” Gregory said. 
 
 City Attorney Pete Holmes, who had sought 90 days of jail time, said in the release that he views the faulty operation of drones “as a serious public-safety issue that will only get worse,” noting the increasing prevalence of drones on the market. 
 
 Skinner, the owner of an aerial photography company, was convicted by a jury last month of the gross misdemeanor after being charged with conduct that created a “substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person.” 
 
 The case marked the first time the City Attorney’s Office has charged anyone with mishandling a drone in a public space. 
 
 Skinner declined to comment when reached by phone Friday. His attorney, Jeffrey Kradel, said the sentence was “too severe” for an act that wasn’t intentional. 
 
 He said his client was singled out for harsh treatment to scare other drone users, calling that an improper use of prosecutorial authority. 
 
 The woman, then 25, was standing near Fourth Avenue and Madison Street on June 28, 2015, when the 18-inch-by-18-inch drone crashed into a building and fell into the crowd, striking her in the head, according to Seattle police. 
 
 The woman’s boyfriend caught her as she fell to the ground. An off-duty firefighter helped treat the woman and called for police. 
 
 The drone retailed for about $1,200 and weighed about 2 pounds, police said at the time. 
 
 During the trial, prosecutors called several witnesses to testify, including the woman, who suffered a concussion, and a man who suffered a minor bruise, according to the City Attorney’s Office. 
 
 The verdict came days after representatives of Seattle’s Space Needle revealed an incident — captured on video — in which a flying drone struck the structure’s roof while pyrotechnicians were prepping for the fireworks display on New Year’s Eve. 
 
 During Friday’s sentencing, Assistant City Prosecutor Raymond Lee said Seattle residents “should not fear a drone strike falling from the sky” and that Skinner created the situation that caused the harm, according to the news release. 
 
 In handing down the sentence, Gregory, who had presided over the trial, told Skinner the injured woman “had a hard time talking about what happened to her when you placed that drone in the air,” the news release said. 
 
 A May 25 hearing has been set to determine the amount of restitution Skinner owes the woman for her medical treatment. 
 
 Skinner’s attorney said he will appeal the verdict. While pending, Skinner will not have to serve the 30 days in jail or pay the fine. 
 
 Even with the appeal, Skinner will have to take a certified class on drone safety under the sentence. 
 
 Holmes praised the work of Lee and his co-counsel, Assistant City Attorney Jeff Wolf. 
 
 “With limited legal tools at our disposal,” Holmes said, “I’m extremely proud of the job” they did. 
 
 “Operators should know that we will continue to go after them when they disregard public safety,” he said.
– In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, a 38-year-old man has been sentenced to time behind bars because he lost control of his drone. Paul Skinner, who owns an aerial photography business in Washington state, was found guilty of reckless endangerment in January and handed a $500 fine plus 30 days in jail in Seattle Municipal Court on Friday after an incident during Seattle's Pride Parade in 2015, per the BBC. Skinner’s drone—about 18 inches square and weighing two pounds, per Engadget—flew into a building, then dropped onto a crowd of people below, knocking a woman unconscious and leaving her with a concussion, reports the Seattle Times. A man also suffered minor bruises. Judge Willie Gregory acknowledged Skinner hadn't meant to hurt anyone but said he "put people in danger of being injured." A prosecutor added drone "operators should know that we will continue to go after them when they disregard public safety." But Skinner's lawyer, who plans to appeal, tells the Times his client is being made an example of—a drone expert told the court he wasn't aware of a similar case involving a drone hobbyist sentenced to jail time—and his sentence is "too severe." With or without an appeal, Skinner will need to complete a drone safety course. A hearing scheduled for May will also determine how much restitution should be paid to the woman he injured. (Tigers destroyed a drone that appeared in their midst.)