Near Misses...

[Warren Kawamoto]

Arlington, AT & T Stadium
Arlington drone crash, video raise questions - Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

[Rob Cantwell]

it's somewhat amusing to read hysterical headlines like "Drone Attacks innocent family on the beach! " it's also misleading when you find in fact that it was the operator that was 'attacked' or put another way flew the thing at himself!
Does anyone really believe that all the rules and regulations in the world are going to stop people being idiots? The thing is that, the operators that would follow all those rules and regulations are the ones that in the absence of rules would observe safe practises anyway.
Reckless people get into cars or on motorcycles, jet-skies use guns etc. a bit of perspective needs to be brought to the whole subject.
anyway it was kind of the stadium guys to give the quad back

on a side note any folks that do indulge in flying take note that it can be dangerous even to the operator

might be NSW
viewer discretion advised for those of a gentle disposition ;-)

Woman Violently Attacks Photographer on Beach for Using a Quadcopter

[Vince Pachiano]

Originally Posted by John Cash

I was at a little leauge game last month. A foul ball hit my cars rear windshield. You know.........broken window, near miss . a baby could have been in the backseat. Im calling the FAA.

I realize that you are being dramatic, but I gotta believe there is case law that says by parking your car near a baseball field, you took an assumed risk of getting hit by an errant baseball, and thus would have no claim for damages.
This would be different than if you were just driving along a public road, and got hit by a baseball. In this case, I gotta believe the owner of the baseball field might be liable since they did not take adequate steps to prevent the errant baseballs

[Dave Blackhurst]

OK posts that are complete speculation are in the same category as the paranoid loony that attacked the operator at the beach... both are completely unsupportable.

You can't just make law up as you go, unless of course you're an elected official... and even then, it's dangerous business!

[John Cash]

"I realize that you are being dramatic"

Yes, I was but I did have a buddy that took a lady to see the SD Padres play. First date. It was before the game started, during batting practice. My friend leaned down in his seat to pick up his drink and heard a load "Pop" . He looked up and saw His date with Blood all over Her. The ball hit Her in the mouth.
Crazy. They had to go to the ER. And yes their was a disclaimer on the back of the ticket

[John Cash]

@ Warren

When the automobile first came out people swore if you traveled more than 30 mph you would die. If you were to follow what you are doing now and replace the word "drone" with "auto" you would have hundreds of postings today about people that are careless and their careless actions caused harm or death to others right? I mean today.
Yet, Im willing to bet you also got in a car today.

So, you post every drone event around the world and proclaim them to be unsafe. But you have no numbers to back that up.

As I said, you got into a car today yet their are hundrds times more car crashes per day than drone crashes so why arent you more concerned with auto crashes ?

Because you have the ability to realize although there are hundreds of car crashes each day there are millions of cars being driven . The chance of a car crash isnt very high, I know because Im sure you use a car.

The same for drone, multis or what ever you want to call them. Two, three a day ? In the news? from world wide ? Not too bad I think. Im willing to be there are thousands of drones in the air at any given time

I went to a seminar Tuesday where a gentleman from General Atomic said there are 54 Preditors in the air every second of every day around the globe. No, they dont crash but what Im getting at is they are already here, being flone and people are not dying by the masses.

In face they have been out for about three or four years(multirotors), Millions sold by now Can you find me ONE death related to a mutirotor?

[Dave Blackhurst]

Yeah, I think unless you're a terrorist or enemy of the state, your chances of "death by drone" are pretty slim...

[Warren Kawamoto]

The problem is that because these drones are small and lightweight, they are not seen as potentially dangerous. That is the real problem. Put them into the hands of young men, and what you end up with is a competition of "who can make the best viral video" by pushing the envelope of safety. Go on youtube and you can find many videos of cameras flying over crowds of people. Once a drone operator loses his link for whatever reason, he has no control over where it will go down.

In Honolulu, we had a Memorial Day event at the beach where 40,000 people attended. There were 4 or 5 privately owned hexacopters with cameras buzzing overhead, directly over the crowd.

2014 Lantern Floating Festival - Ground and Aerial Drone footage - YouTube

Fortunately, there was no crash. It's true that nobody died....not yet. But to decrease the likelihood of injury or death, I still believe airborne camera operators should be licensed and certified. "Professional" teams consists of a drone operator that knows regulations and air safety, camera operator, and spotter. I believe this combination is the safest way to acquire aerial images. What the guy did above looks cool, but is not safe.


BTW another incident:
Drone crash prompts Vancouver to review film industry use - British Columbia - CBC News

[Chuck Spaulding]

If this guy did this to go viral on YouTube, he failed. He has something like 125 views in a month.

People doing AP professionally are not trying to create viral videos. Chances are even if there were the regulations in place that your so sure would save us from ourselves this guy would have done this video anyway. In fact I'm surprised that there were apparently so few MR's flying around that event.

You can't legislate stupidity.

Small planes and helicopters fly over public venues and crowded freeways all the time for all sorts of reasons. Jobs that could be handled by RC aircraft that would reduce the risk and expense ten fold. Jobs that won't happen if paranoid people create onerous regulations that prevent this industry from ever literally getting off the ground.

A Phantom and a GoPro does not a professional make. Considering the number of MR's flying it seems like the fear of serious injury and death is over exaggerated. Not to say that it isn't possible but I'm sure as soon as it happens you'll post the video here.

[Roger Keay]

I am not a lawyer, but I would be concerned about the possibilities outlined below if I chose to use a drone.

Sooner or later, a drone will drop out of the sky for technical or operator error reasons and cause serious injuries or death to an unsuspecting person below. The operator of the craft and possibly others may be charged with manslaughter or some type of negligent homicide for causing death, or some lesser negligence charge for causing bodily injury. The specifics of the charges will depend on the jurisdiction where the incident occurs. In some ways, it doesn't matter if it is a lighting fixture, a drone or a piece of staging equipment falling on an individual, they can all cause harm. What is different is the drone is being flown so the decisions taken by the operator come into consideration. If there is some type of negligence, carelessness or disregard for human safety then the operator and others might be found guilty.

As well as a criminal charge there is the likelihood of a civil liability action. The injured party will look for compensation from the operator, owner and manufacturer of the equipment, and anyone else who might be held responsible. If an individual required ongoing medical care for decades as a result of being struck by a drone then the damages awarded could be very substantial. As the user of a drone would your insurance cover the liability? Does your existing liability insurance even cover the possibility of a drone incident?

If I intended to use a drone, I would want to carefully assess the risks and take steps to minimize the possibility of an accident. Thinking through the flight plan for the drone, in detail, would help identify risks and allow the operator to mitigate the potential for an incident. If the work required the drone to fly over people then flying the drone over the same area without anyone below would be a prudent step to confirm that the radio link was solid and the flight was doable.

Some questions come to mind. If the drone experiences a problem that might put someone at risk then what must the operator do? Under what circumstances must the operator terminate the flight and land the drone, and where? Is there some place close to the venue where the drone can be crashed quickly and safely if control problems develop? If an incident occurs and someone is hurt, how will medical care be provided? A flight and incident response plan should be documented so everyone knows what to expect and how to respond in the event of an incident.

Most of the technology used in production is not very dangerous and the consequences of failure are limited to production problems and loss of reputation. Drones are very different because they can cause injury and potentially death. If treated casually without consideration of potential risks, potentially fatal incidents will occur.

[Dave Blackhurst]

Ever Gaff tape a cable or move a tripod to keep it out of the way? AKA common sense...

The blades on these are usually plastic, not whirling stainless steel blades of death - the potential for injury is there, but having flown some of the toys with similar blades, it's crazy paranoia to be saying "the sky is falling" (OK, it's "things are falling out of the sky...").

Even the article from JANUARY noted the short term flight ban post crash was quickly LIFTED, and the benefits of MR AP were noted...

There will always be idiots behaving badly and doing dumb things with "technology" (go driving in any major city, if you have any doubts about this). Accidents can and do sometimes happen, even when care is taken. We still drive cars, take plane flights, walk across streets, use blenders and coffee makers... you can still buy Mentos and Soda, use electricity, shave... wear stripes and plaid, black socks with shorts, and white after labor day...

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by John Cash

When the automobile first came out people swore if you traveled more than 30 mph you would die. If you were to follow what you are doing now and replace the word "drone" with "auto" you would have hundreds of postings today about people that are careless and their careless actions caused harm or death to others right? I mean today.

And right from the start cars and their use have been subject to legislation. In some instances that has become less restrictive - there's no longer a max 4mph speed limit and a requirement for the car to be preceded by a man waving a red flag - in other cases new regulations have been introduced with time. (Such as drink driving.)

Reading some posts on this forum it sometimes seems as if the arguments about drones are either an unrestricted free for all, or an outright ban. Practically - as with cars - surely the way forward is to establish sensible regulations to allow usage but reduce as far as possible potential problems regarding not just safety, but also privacy concerns and noise etc issues?

Chuck says "You can't legislate stupidity." Maybe not, not totally. But you can legislate to reduce it, and you can legislate to make sure that people who insist on being stupid may be prosecuted. And as example I'd quote drink driving laws. You still do get casualties through some being way over the limit - but nowhere near the amount that was the norm before the legislation was passed.

The difficult part is striking the balance between not being too restrictive for it's own sake, whilst looking after the safety and privacy of most.

[John Nantz]

Drone used by a Peeping Toms:

A woman in an apartment on the 26th floor of a high-rise building in Seattle was videoed by a couple guys using a drone.

One pays big bucks for an apartment like this because of the great view.

Unfortunately, she had just got out of bed and when she went to the window to look outside, what did she see? A drone with a video camera staring at her!!!

On this morning's news: Seattle woman sees drone peeping into her apartment window | News OK

So now what are these two guys going to do with their video? Post it on some voyeurism web site?

So, besides the noise, the danger of spinning blades, there is also the privacy concern.

[Warren Kawamoto]

Did you know that there were 418 US military drone crashes? I didn't...and these are professionals!
When drones fall from the sky | The Washington Post

Crashes mount as military flies more drones in U.S. | The Washington Post

‘Stop saying ‘uh-oh’ while you’re flying’: Drone crash pilot quotes unveiled - The Washington Post

[Andy Wilkinson]

Slightly off topic...but a "sophisticated" drone crashed into security netting at Dublin prison yesterday. It had a camera on board - but collecting footage was not its purpose - it was delivering drugs to some inmates.

Drug-Smuggling Drone Crashes Into Dublin Prison