On October 20-21, Luchuan County, Yulin, Guangxi, successively released announcements on the handling of two cases.
The first case involved "illegal flight": The police aviation squadron of the Public Security Bureau received an airspace warning: near the railway in Wenquan Town, a drone flew to an altitude of over 200 meters.
Ten minutes later, the owner, Nong, was identified. An employee of a company, he had not applied for flight approval nor received safety operation training. He conducted two ultra-high-altitude flights that day, covering a total distance of 5,715 meters, and even flew into the controlled airspace along the railway. He was fined CNY 500.
The next day, in the same county, the case was much more serious. Wang, who held an operator's license and worked in ground surveying, flew into controlled airspace at ultra-high altitudes three times, reaching a maximum altitude of 450.1 meters and covering a total distance of 13,745 meters. After being notified of the investigation, he refused to cooperate and deleted his flight records.
Combining the warning data, the police thoroughly investigated and clarified the facts—he was fined CNY 5,000, and the drone was confiscated.
Placing these two cases side by side provides the most realistic snapshot of current low-altitude regulation: swift detection leaves no room for escape, and deleting records only leads to heavier penalties.
Fines Are No Longer Just "A Few Hundred"
Many people's impression of illegal drone flights still lingers on "just paying a few hundred yuan and getting away with it." This impression is becoming obsolete.
Flying a drone to shoot videos at the east entrance of Wuhan Railway Station without crossing the tracks or affecting train operations resulted in a CNY 100 fine; Ding, an employee at a 4S dealership, lost control of his drone while shooting promotional material, causing it to fly into the railway protection net with the takeoff point about 50 meters from the tracks, resulting in a CNY 700 fine; Xie in Suining, fully aware that the railway area is controlled airspace, continued to fly a DJI T100S for plant protection operations for two consecutive days after receiving warnings, resulting in a CNY 1,000 fine; Deng's drone in Qiubei, Yunnan, was not registered under a real name at all, and after flying over 120 times in a scenic area, it lost control, crashed, and injured two tourists, resulting in a CNY 2,500 fine.
It must be emphasized here that once the circumstances are deemed "serious," the situation changes drastically. For example, in the clear zone of Daxing International Airport, Yue conducted unauthorized aerial photography for entertainment; his drone was confiscated and he was fined an additional CNY 1,000. In Luchuan, Wang's drone was confiscated and he was fined an additional CNY 5,000.
Even stricter measures took effect on January 1, 2026. The newly revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law came into force, explicitly classifying illegal drone flights as acts endangering public safety for the first time, with more serious circumstances punishable by detention of 5 to 10 days. Since then, various regions have frequently issued the "first fines under the new law": Li in Fangshan, Beijing, was detained for 5 days; Ji in Tancheng, Linyi, flew multiple times in controlled airspace near railways and water sources, and secretly filmed others' privacy to drive traffic on Douyin live streams, resulting in a 7-day detention; a pilot in Xishan District, Kunming, flew without qualifications and at ultra-high altitudes, resulting in a 5-day detention, a CNY 1,000 fine, and equipment confiscation.
Between a fine and detention lies the determination of "circumstances." "Repeated offenses," "offenses during major events," "refusal to cooperate with investigations," and "deleting flight records" are all on this list.
Railway Lines: The Most Heavily Enforced Areas
Looking at publicly reported cases, railway-related incidents account for the largest number. According to public data, out of 67 cases, 20 occurred along railway lines.
This set of cases published by the Ministry of Public Security in 2026 is particularly noteworthy: in Cangzhou, Hebei, Wu operated a drone to spray pesticides on wheat fields along the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. The drone illegally passed under a viaduct, then rose to the bridge deck, lost control, and crashed into the tracks. Train G15 collided with it, causing a vehicle malfunction, a 32-minute stoppage, and delays for 63 trains. Suspected of the crime of negligently damaging means of transport, he was subjected to criminal coercive measures.
Following this, Zeng in Shaoguan touched the contact wire and was detained for 7 days; Zhu in Ningde scraped overhead wires before crashing into the tracks, delaying 7 trains, and was detained for 6 days; Wu in Shangrao crashed into the tracks causing a 7-minute stoppage and was detained for 5 days; Xu in Fangchenggang touched the viaduct railing and crashed, delaying trains by 15 minutes, and was detained for 5 days.
There are also everyday instances of taking chances: Meng in Tangshan, seeking convenience, used a drone to carry a fish basket across the railway. The basket unhooked and got caught on the contact wire, forcing a train to pass at a reduced speed. He was detained for 5 days and fined CNY 200.
The True Red Line Lies in Criminal Law
Some people treat illegal flights as mere traffic violations. But flying high enough and close enough to flight routes changes the nature of the act.
Li is a complete example. In March 2024, he paid someone to bypass the altitude limit, flew to nearly 3,000 meters to shoot cloud videos, and posted them online, resulting in a 5-day administrative detention. He did not stop: starting in January 2025, he bought drones and paid for bypassing restrictions four times, reaching a maximum altitude of 8,000 meters. Part of his flight trajectory entered civil aviation routes, coming as close as about 800 meters to passenger aircraft. In December 2025, suspected of the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means, he was approved for arrest.
Chen bypassed the restrictions and flew to over 3,200 meters. His flight area was sandwiched between two main civil aviation routes, where the minimum flight altitude for civil aircraft is only just over 2,800 meters. Tian filmed and posted provocative remarks over the takeoff and landing routes in the airport no-fly zone. In August 2024, he was sentenced to three years in prison for the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means.
Another front targets "technology providers." Zhu bypassed altitude and no-fly zone restrictions for others over 50 times, profiting over CNY 40,000, and was approved for arrest. Hu in Shenzhen bypassed flight controls and resold the modified machines at a markup, profiting over CNY 20,000. The Longgang District Court sentenced him to eight months in prison and a fine of CNY 5,000 for the crime of illegally controlling a computer information system. Wang privately forged nine official seals and stamped them on over 200 flight activity application materials to help others apply for airspace clearance, profiting over CNY 70,000, and is suspected of the crime of forging seals of state organs.
Those who bypass restrictions, those who sell bypass services, those who forge materials, and those who ultimately fly the drones are all targeted along the entire chain. This is the key difference in this round of enforcement compared to the past.
It's Not a Change in Attitude, but an Arrival of Capability
Why has it suddenly become so strict?
Warning data from the UOM platform, drone detection equipment, and locally built monitoring platforms have made "real-time detection—rapid positioning—data tracing" a routine operation. In Luchuan, the drone owner was identified in 10 minutes; the Rucheng Public Security Bureau used the monitoring platform to consecutively detect five illegal flights, one of which directly showed the serial number as "unregistered." Pilots' attempts to turn off apps and delete local records cannot cut the chain of evidence at all—flight control backend logs, cloud-synced data, and platform warnings can all be used to close a case.
Regulations are also being improved. On May 1, 2026, two mandatory national standards, the "Requirements for Real-Name Registration and Activation of Civil Unmanned Aircraft" and the "Operational Identification Specifications for Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems," came into effect. Civil drones must complete real-name registration and activate the operational identification function before takeoff. In other words, "flying without registration" and "flying without operational identification" are themselves punishable offenses, without the need for any further consequences to occur.
What This Means for the Low-Altitude Industry
The low-altitude economy has been written into too many plans, but the current reality is: airspace compliance has shifted from "advocacy" to a prerequisite cost.
In July 2025, Chengdu Public Security investigated three cases in a row with highly similar structures: the drones were unregistered, the companies lacked operational qualification certificates, and flights were not reported for approval for a long time. The fines fell on the companies, ranging from CNY 2,000 to CNY 2,600. However, according to the Regulations, conducting commercial flights without an operational qualification certificate incurs a fine of CNY 50,000 to CNY 500,000, and failing to insure liability insurance as required by law incurs a fine of CNY 2,000 to CNY 20,000. The case in Leshan, Sichuan, is even more typical: a heavy-lift drone lost control during a test flight, crashed onto a bridge of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, and caught fire, interrupting train operations for 253 minutes and causing railway losses of about CNY 190,000. The individual was fined CNY 5,000 and the company was fined CNY 50,000—the liability chains for both civil aviation and railways were activated simultaneously.
For individual pilots, the rules are actually just a few: register under a real name and activate; check the official UOM airspace conclusions before each takeoff, and do not rely on third-party maps; apply for controlled airspace before 12:00 PM one day in advance, and fly only after approval; hold certificates according to the drone model and purpose; do not bypass restrictions, modify, delete records, secretly film, or fly over crowds and critical facilities.
During the same period, Beijing police cumulatively handled 51 illegal flight cases and administratively penalized 49 individuals. Behind this number is the formal end of the era of "fly as you please."
For the low-altitude sector to truly grow into an industry, the premise is that everyone must believe: the sky is a place that is managed.