Microcopter CRASH

[James Manford]

To be frank I would only fly one of these if I was VERY VERY confident at a wedding ...

I would defo use it for out door establishing shots and may be one or two posed shots with the bride / groom ... never would I fly it over guests etc. Simply too risky ... you don't know who's in that crowd and what they will do should you crash.

Why risk your business just to get a nice looking shot that a steadycam or slider can do just as well !

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I think it crashed because the battery drained out.

The battery life of these drones are pretty poor. While flying one doesn't realise that the time is running out.

[Dave Blackhurst]

It was a DIRECT HIT, and no one was seriously injured or killed... hmm... guess it could have been worse, but still, relatively minor and in a fairly "worst case" scenario with a fairly large (aka not really "micro") copter.

More interesting is that the rig was "on lease" - no info about pilot training, experience or qualifications. was it equipment malfunction or someone leaning over to grab a beer (hitting the stick in the process)? Probably will never know, but at least no serious harm was done.

[Wendell Adkins]

I'm not sure if you were trying to make a point with your "direct hit" comment or not. If so I would offer that it was incredibly lucky nobody was seriously hurt. What if it would have hit and killed an infant or small child?

These rigs have no place flying directly over large crowds, ever.

[Jody Arnott]

Originally Posted by Sabyasachi Patra

I think it crashed because the battery drained out.

The battery life of these drones are pretty poor. While flying one doesn't realise that the time is running out.

Any experienced pilot should know how long their battery is going to last, and should be using a timer to know when to land. Battery running out isn't an excuse for crashing in my opinion.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst

It was a DIRECT HIT, and no one was seriously injured or killed... hmm... guess it could have been worse, but still, relatively minor and in a fairly "worst case" scenario with a fairly large (aka not really "micro") copter.

Not seriously injured/killed in this case - but what if it hit a different part of the body? What if child or elderly person? What if the hit person had been on stairs etc and fallen as a result? I've now seen enough to know that if I went to an event, I would not want such as these being operated over my head.

Unfortunately, the end result is that all the devices, all the owners will now get tarred with the same brush. As I said before: - "Trouble is, these laws penalise the responsible as well as the idiots, but there are now so many examples of problems with idiots with quadrocopters that laws are probably inevitable. "

The danger is that if sensible laws aren't made for the commercial operation of these, the result will be a complete ban.

More interesting is that the rig was "on lease" - no info about pilot training, experience or qualifications. was it equipment malfunction or someone leaning over to grab a beer (hitting the stick in the process)? Probably will never know, but at least no serious harm was done.

By the sound of things, the owner hired it out to "someone involved with filming the event", and one comment on the TV report implies the reason for the crash was a failing battery. Maybe - but sounds like the operator was relatively inexperienced, maybe good enough for basic operation, but not enough to know battery limitations etc.

[Dean Sensui]

This was posted elsewhere, but someone has been killed. The only positive thing about this is that it wasn't an innocent bystander, but the pilot himself.

Still, it fuels the debate for taking RC helicopters seriously. With large blades they can be fatal. The much smaller props of multirotor helicopters aren't nearly as bad, although still very serious.

Regarding the multicopter that crashed into spectators, that particular controller has a reputation of simply running away on its own. There are systems that are much more reliable and are about the same price.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Originally Posted by Jody Arnott

Any experienced pilot should know how long their battery is going to last, and should be using a timer to know when to land. Battery running out isn't an excuse for crashing in my opinion.

I was mentioning a probable cause that the battery could have run out.

What percentage of users are experienced pilots?

Couple of days back there was a report of a fatal accident due to one remote copter.

[Warren Kawamoto]

Oct 1 crash in East Manhattan, New York
EXCLUSIVE: Small helicopter drone crash lands on New York city street | 7online.com

[Darren Levine]

the stupidity can only escalate, there are now several ready to crash models available under $1000 for any moron to buy

[Dean Sensui]

Clearly this person had no control over the Phantom quadcopter, and shouldn't have been flying it anywhere except a large, uninhabited area.

That said, I'm surprised the first impact didn't take it down immediately.

[Warren Kawamoto]

Good thing he didn't get hit in the eye.

LiveLeak.com - Skater hits camera drone

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Originally Posted by Jody Arnott

Any experienced pilot should know how long their battery is going to last, and should be using a timer to know when to land. Battery running out isn't an excuse for crashing in my opinion.

I got three original batteries from B&H for my partner who is a trained pilot. All those three gives erratic results and the copter is prone to crash. The phantom becomes perfectly stable when the original battery is used. I only fly to fulfill my childhood wish of flying. This technology is not mature. So one ought to be very careful.