Doug,
Not sure where you come into this. Quoting you: "I'm no photographer of any kind".
I can assure you that the ruined photos were deleted if they were digital and tossed if film. Why would anyone need or keep that "evidence".
The folks on that charter were all photographers and paid a lot of money to PHOTOGRAPH and RECORD. They would not have been there otherwise. They did not want their shots ruined by someone that doesn't play well with others. There were no "sour grapes", just a lack of common courtesy.
Drones are a major problem primarily for the noise. Any video camera or sound equipment will pick up the noise and it's not a pleasant sound. Pretty much like a flying leaf blower. In addition, the drone was flown through the field of view of the photo line, thus getting into the photos of some.