Tourist flies drone into 7 WTC, gets ‘great N.Y. story’ & ticket

A Texas tourist accidentally crashed a drone into 7 World Trade Center on Monday, triggering a massive city and federal law enforcement response that ended with a ticket and an unforgettable lesson for the talented traveler.

“I learned today you can’t fly a drone anywhere in New York City,” Adam Ismail, 22, a videographer, investor and financial trader who lives in the Dallas area told the Daily News on day two of his New York vacation.

Ismail (photo) said he was hoping to record some awesome Manhattan footage about 3 p.m. when he launched his DJA Air 2s drone about eight stories into the air before it crashed, wedging itself between the 52-story building’s metal facade and its windows, right above the front entrance

“It’s a personal-use drone. And it takes really good footage,” he said.

Ismail said he was taking footage for his roughly 3,000 Instagram followers.

“I was making a personal travel video to show my followers on social media,” he said. “I post on Instagram. I need to make my YouTube pop off.”

He said he didn’t know the building was part of the World Trade Center, so the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks didn’t cross his mind.

“It was quite a New York greeting. Now I’ve got a great New York story, he said. “Everybody was a good sport. I didn’t give the cops a hard time, and they didn’t give me a hard time. They just had to check that I was doing what I said I was doing.”

Port Authority police issued him a summons for violating the city code preventing personal drone use, an agency spokesman said.

“The New York Police Department, the counterterrorism unit and the FBI responded. Wow!” he said.

The episode came with another cost, since high-end drones don’t come cheap.

“It’s goes for about $1,200,” Ismail said, adding, “I’m glad I’m not in jail.”