A drone was flown over Fenway Park in the late innings of Thursday night’s ballgame, prompting the Boston Red Sox to notify police.
A club spokeswoman said in an e-mail Thursday night that “The operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) around large stadium events is a violation of FAA regulations and the club has reported the incident to the Boston Police Department for investigation.”
There's a drone hovering above home plate at Fenway. Not sure what, if anything, can be done about that. But it's fairly low.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) April 12, 2019
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration deferred comment to “stadium officials and law enforcement” Thursday night.
Drone manufacturer DJI released a statement late Thursday night saying the drone appeared to be one of their models. DJI spokesman Adam Lisberg said the company had nothing to do with the incident, adding that the company is “trying to learn more about what happened, and stand ready to work with Boston police and other security agencies to investigate what happened.”
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The drone is back! @redsox #soxdrone @NECN pic.twitter.com/GNgowNmHmL
— Chris O'Brien (@ChrisObrienMA) April 12, 2019
“Anybody should know that you should not flying a drone over a stadium during a baseball game,” said Lisberg during a brief phone interview Thursday night. “It’s clearly illegal and stupid.”
Whoever was operating the drone “deliberately violated the FAA temporary flight restriction in place over the game,” he said in a statement.
The company has a system that can remotely identify and monitor airborne drones in areas where the system has been installed, he said.
“This incident shows why the federal government must mandate a remote identification system for airborne drones as soon as possible,” Lisberg said in his statement.
The Red Sox won Thursday night’s game over the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6, after staging a ninth-inning, two-run rally.
Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Danny__McDonald.