Some people will go to great lengths to get hold of a Bunnings sausage in bread.
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A man who only wants to be known as "Tim" has admitted he was part of a team that flew a drone to pick up a sausage from Bunnings and deliver it to a friend waiting in an outdoor spa in Sunbury.
Tim says it was all a bit of fun.
But the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is investigating the incident after a video was uploaded to YouTube showing a man piloting a drone to the Sunbury Bunnings carpark while he sat at his home.
The video has since been deleted from YouTube, however CASA spokesperson Peter Gibson said the incident potentially breached a number of drone regulations and may lead to a $9000 fine.
Breaches included use of a drone within 30 metres of people, use out of the line of sight and use over a populous area.
"You can clearly see people walking to and from their cars, you can clearly see people around the sausage sizzle," he said.
Tim said the video was just a bit of fun and admitted that multiple shots were cropped together to make it look like one continuous flight.
"[The] drone would [have] lost signal over that distance and would [have] been extremely difficult to control via a screen," he said.
"We did ask the sausage sizzle operators if they were happy to be in the film, we cleared the area for the pickup.
"For legal reasons the pilot is undisclosed."
Tim said he took down the video after CASA raised the issue of the fine and would set up a crowd-funding page to recoup the money if the agency followed through.
The video shows a drone flying over a housing estate and crossing a four-lane road before hovering over the Bunnings barbecue.
An alleged accomplice then places a snag into a receptacle which is connected to the drone by a string. It is unclear if the man asked for onions.
Before that, the drone drops off a note in the Bunnings car park saying, "Please buy snag and put in bag, here's $10".
A Bunnings spokesperson said the hardware giant had not authorised the video and referred media requests to CASA.
The video has since been re-posted by technology website EFTM on Facebook, showing a man receiving the sausage in a hot tub in the backyard of a house.
The website said it was not involved in the video and was alerted to it while it was still available on YouTube.
Mr Gibson said the rising popularity of drones meant authorities had a busy time on their hands making sure the flying machines were used within safety laws.
"The takeout message is simple, the drone rules are there to protect people and property," he said.
"This is a classic example of a place where you should never fly a drone."
With Christmas approaching and drones sure to feature in plenty of stockings, Mr Gibson said any new owners should read up on exactly what they are allowed to do.
"We want to see people have fun with their drones but if you don't respect the rules then you putting people at risk and there are penalties for doing that," Mr Gibson said.
