Friend: Drone crasher wants to apologize to Obama family

Still unnamed by authorities, the flyer of the DJI Phantom quadcopter, who is also a U.S. intelligence agency employee, is declining comment. The drone’s owner only spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity for himself and his friend, the drone’s operator.

RELATED: Drone maker says it’s ‘highly unlikely’ White House drone malfunctioned

The drone owner, who let his friend borrow the quadcopter, was not at his friend’s Washington, D.C. apartment when the incident occurred. But he offered a recap of the incident in an interview with CNN. This is a condensed version of that conversation:

So what would the operator of the drone like to say?

Now he knows?

“He never realized that something like this could happen. And now that it’s happened he realized he’s made a grave mistake.”

He’s hoping others will learn from this?

“If there’s something positive comes out of this it will be for people to understand that they have to have a greater awareness around these and a greater understanding of the laws that are applied to flying drones, not just around DC but around all sensitive places.”

CNN