The drone pilots that regularly fly over and monitor the construction progress at Giga Berlin have been told their days of flying over the factory are over, or at least have been severely curtailed.
On Friday drone pilots Robert and Andreas, known as The Wolfpack Berlin, announced on Twitter they and all other drone pilots have been banned from flying over the factory effective immediately.
While they are banned from flying over the factory, they are allowed to operate their drones from a distance when they are not directly above Tesla’s factory complex. They will also be allowed one drone flight over the factory every quarter, although it is unclear how they will get permission for when these flights will take place.
The news of the ban was confirmed by fellow pilot Tobias Lindh, who says he will continue his weekly drone flights from a distance. Robert and Andreas say they are taking some time to decide whether to continue flying their drone with these new restrictions.
https://twitter.com/wolfpackberlin/status/1626664376517251074
Tesla didn’t provide a reason for the ban, but from what our sources have told us the Giga Berlin team that made the decision as they want to keep prying eyes away from the factory and the ongoing construction. We believe one of the main reasons for the ban and why it only happened now was the recent news of Tesla being ordered to halt construction of a parking lot solar array because of the installation of concrete piles, something which we have been told authorities largely became aware of because of the overhead flights. After we published our story last week CEO Elon Musk simply replied “Sigh,” showing his apparent frustration with the situation.
Sigh
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2023
There are also apparent safety reasons behind the ban as laws in Germany prohibit drone flights over populated areas and rail lines,
This isn’t the first time however that Giga Berlin’s drone pilots have been told to stop flying. Last year @Gf4Tesla had his drone overflight permit revoked for “breach of trust,” mainly related to some interior photos of Giga Berlin he shared to his Twitter account in late 2020 and early 2021.
We have also checked with Giga Texas drone pilot Joe Tegtmeyer to see if there have been any indications his flying days were in jeopardy, and he confirmed with Drive Tesla that he has not heard anything from Tesla recently and that he will be continuing his regular flights until he is told otherwise.
You can watch the most recent Giga Berlin drone flyovers from February 11 and 15 below.
