Drone Incident Renews Questions Over White House Security

WASHINGTON (AP) — There are new questions today about White House security, after a two-foot-long drone crashed on the White House grounds overnight.

Officials say a man later came forward to say that he’d been flying the drone for fun, and that he hadn’t meant to fly it over the White House.

The devices have become popular, and sophisticated, toys. A lot of them were given as Christmas gifts last month. But authorities worry that the miniature flyers could also become tools for terrorists.

President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, were overseas when the quad-copter struck the southeast side of the grounds at about 3 a.m. Daughters Sasha and Malia stayed behind in Washington, but there’s no word on whether they were at the mansion.

In addition to the renewed security concerns, the incident could reinvigorate the long-running debate about the use of commercial drones in U.S. skies. At the urging of the drone industry, the administration is on the verge of proposing rules for drone operations. The rules would replace the existing ban on most commercial flights.