KOCHI, India (Diya TV) — Two American tourists have been booked by police in Kerala after allegedly flying a drone in a high-security area near Indian Coast Guard and Navy facilities in Fort Kochi, a coastal heritage district that is also home to sensitive defense infrastructure. Police said the two were identified as Katie Michelle Phelps, 32, and Christopher Ross Harvey, 35, both from Redding, California. They were not formally arrested, but were issued notices requiring them to appear before investigators as the case proceeds.
The case centers on an alleged drone flight near Chariot Junction in Fort Kochi, close to both the Coast Guard headquarters and INS Dronacharya, the Indian Navy’s gunnery school. According to local reporting citing police, the pair were seen operating the drone to record visuals in the area without the permissions required for a restricted airspace zone. The matter was first flagged by tourism police, after which Fort Kochi police registered an FIR.
The location is significant. Official Indian Navy information identifies INS Dronacharya as being located in Fort Kochi, around 10 kilometers from the main naval base at INS Venduruthy, and describes it as the Navy’s gunnery school. Official Coast Guard information also places the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre and Coast Guard District headquarters functions in Fort Kochi. Together, those official listings confirm that the area around Fort Kochi contains active defense and Coast Guard establishments, not just tourist landmarks.
That dual character is part of why the incident has drawn attention. Fort Kochi is one of Kerala’s best-known visitor destinations, with heavy tourist footfall, but it also sits alongside strategically important military and maritime installations. Police and local media reports say the drone was operated in a “high-security zone” or “red zone,” terminology that aligns with India’s drone regulations for restricted airspace.
India’s Drone Rules, 2021, and the Digital Sky airspace map help explain the legal basis for the case. The Ministry of Civil Aviation’s rules describe red zones as “no-drone zones” where drones can be operated only with permission from the Central Government. The official Digital Sky platform also instructs operators to check zone restrictions before every flight because the airspace map is dynamic. In practice, that means a tourist operating a drone near a defense installation without prior clearance is likely to trigger legal scrutiny even if the stated purpose is photography or sightseeing.
Local reports say police booked the two Americans under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Aircraft Act, and the Drone Rules. One report added that the drone and a laptop were seized for examination. Police have not, in the publicly available reporting reviewed here, alleged espionage or terror links in this case. So far, the public record supports a case of unauthorized drone operation in a prohibited area, not a broader national security conspiracy.
That distinction matters, because the phrase “taken into custody” can sound more dramatic than what police appear to have actually done. The clearest reporting indicates the two were questioned and then served notices rather than being remanded to jail. As of the latest coverage available, there has been no public indication of formal arrest, chargesheet filing, or court remand.
The timing also fits a broader tightening of drone enforcement in India. In recent years, authorities have treated unauthorized drone activity near airports, defense sites, and border areas as a serious matter. The official rules explicitly reserve central-government permission for red-zone operations, and the airspace map is designed to prevent casual or uninformed drone use in sensitive corridors.
There are still gaps in the public reporting. The exact make and registration status of the drone have not been clearly disclosed in the sources reviewed. Nor has police publicly stated whether the footage was deleted, preserved as evidence, or found to contain any images of restricted facilities. The exact BNS sections invoked also have not been consistently detailed in publicly accessible reports. Those are important missing pieces, because they would help clarify whether investigators are treating the matter primarily as an airspace violation, a public safety offense, or a potential breach involving prohibited photography of defense assets.
What is clear is that this was not an ordinary sightseeing location from a legal aviation standpoint. Official Indian Navy and Coast Guard sources confirm Fort Kochi houses active military and maritime establishments, and India’s drone framework makes red-zone flying impermissible without central approval. Against that backdrop, the police response appears to be rooted in the sensitivity of the location rather than in any publicly established hostile motive by the tourists.
