Do we stop another pilot

[microlinux]

Doesn't the phantom 4 have obstacle avoidance?

Yes, forward facing, if it's on, under the right lighting conditions, calibrated and the object can be delineated. It's not perfect.

So could he really fly into a crowd of people?

Yes.

 

[pomonabill220]

Since he was so rushed to get his bird into the air to take video of his kids, do we know IF he even calibrate his compass???? or was his battery fully charged?

It seems like he hasn't even read the manual or become familiar with how to fly his quad.... a serious accident waiting to happen.

 

[varangian]

I think the OP did the right thing in this situation. Personally, I get the urge to pull some remarkably stupid drivers from their cars. These idiots kill and maim more people than drone operators. Most of us feel the urge to protect others but there's only so much we can do.

 

[pomonabill220]

I think the OP did the right thing in this situation. Personally, I get the urge to pull some remarkably stupid drivers from their cars. These idiots kill and maim more people than drone operators. Most of us feel the urge to protect others but there's only so much we can do.

and legally also... without edging on assault.

 

[jwmcgrath]

[QUOTE="dwallersv, post: 1156526, member: 81803"Human beings are far more important than someone's hobby.

Under the circumstances you've described, I would have told him in a friendly way that the FAA rules prohibit him from flying over the people in the park. It's that simple.

If he ignored my advice, I'd escalate to threatening to call the police.[/QUOTE]

There's nothing wrong with this approach either. That may be uncomfortable for some people to do, but kudos to those that can and will.

...I can't see the post I quoted but that may be an app issue... just in case, this is the quote I was trying to display:

dwallwrsv:

"Human beings are far more important than someone's hobby.

Under the circumstances you've described, I would have told him in a friendly way that the FAA rules prohibit him from flying over the people in the park. It's that simple.

If he ignored my advice, I'd escalate to threatening to call the police."

 

[KCadby]

I think you did a good handling the situation the way you did (without going over board)...
Being a new-b is one thing but not even having enough Common Sense (or read/follow the instructions) to figure out how to secure the phone isn't good IMO...
He could have lost control (without even realizing what he's doing) just reacting to his phone falling off = freak out and move the stick(s)...
I watched several videos before I decided to get a Phantom, so I can say that I'm pretty sure I knew more about flying one than this guy did before I even ordered mine...
It's hard to think of everything "on the spot" but one good idea I saw posted here was suggesting that he let you video him with his grand kids

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Yesterday, at a local park filled with children, a man laid down a Phantom 4.
First of all he didn't know how to secure his phone to the controller, it literally was just sitting on the holder.
Second, his antennas were pointed straight out.
That's when I stepped in. This was a seriously unsafe situation and I Stopped him there.
I showed him how to lift the tabs to secure his phone and explained how the antennas worked and repositioned them for him.
I left it at that and walked away. As a Paramedic and Phantom 4 / Inspire 1 Pro pilot I was flawed at his complete lack of knowledge.
"I just wanted to take pictures of my grand kids" Was his statement.
I felt I did enough to at least keep it safe for the moment, but his kind put us all in danger.
Should I have gone further in my instructions or stopped him from flying completely?
Note: Before I purchased mine I researched and read manuals as well as YouTube video intros. Does anyone else?

Yip good call backing off..don't want assault charge...heaps of people I wouldn't trust OA ,,to late when things go wrong..wish I was there to view this..some people

 

[Russ43Phantom]

Yesterday, at a local park filled with children, a man laid down a Phantom 4.
First of all he didn't know how to secure his phone to the controller, it literally was just sitting on the holder.
Second, his antennas were pointed straight out.
That's when I stepped in. This was a seriously unsafe situation and I Stopped him there.
I showed him how to lift the tabs to secure his phone and explained how the antennas worked and repositioned them for him.
I left it at that and walked away. As a Paramedic and Phantom 4 / Inspire 1 Pro pilot I was flawed at his complete lack of knowledge.
"I just wanted to take pictures of my grand kids" Was his statement.
I felt I did enough to at least keep it safe for the moment, but his kind put us all in danger.
Should I have gone further in my instructions or stopped him from flying completely?
Note: Before I purchased mine I researched and read manuals as well as YouTube video intros. Does anyone else?

I read manuals end-to-end, researched YouTube on all the ways your can possible crash, and I practiced basic flight patterns and maneuvers for at least 2 hours at a large field where there were no people. Then I was ready for using the drone for photography.

 

[EdwardMeijer]

I disappointed that you decided to stay out of it. The irony is, as a Paramedic, you WOULD have been the first First Responder on the scene when he spazzed out and plowed the thing into some kid on the monkey bars trying to film his grandkids.

I take a much more "drone police" view to this, and am not popular here for this view. I don't care. Human beings are far more important than someone's hobby.

Under the circumstances you've described, I would have told him in a friendly way that the FAA rules prohibit him from flying over the people in the park. It's that simple.

If he ignored my advice, I'd escalate to threatening to call the police. If he took off anyway, I'd record the whole thing with my cell phone. If he did fly over the people in the park, I'd carry through on my threat, and call the police.

But that's it. My "drone police" behavior is narrowly limited to one, and only one thing: Violating the rule flying over people.

I completely agree with your statement, it is just common sense Hello!

 

[Xanadu42]

It's tough because you can't really stop anyone from doing anything. You could have offered to teach him to fly, but that might have just made him defensive. I think you did well. It's mostly DJI's fault for marketing these as fool-proof, automated toys, and not as something that could kill someone. Modern flight controllers have opened the RC aircraft hobby to both boneheads and well-meaning, but clueless people. Back in the day, getting an RC aircraft in the air took hours or months of practice and training. Now anyone can immediately put a 5lb aircraft in the sky and be a danger to the public, usually without even knowing it.

2.821917 lbs but whos counting

 

[pomonabill220]

2.821917 lbs but whos counting

Is that with a used battery or a fully charged battery?

 

[dwallersv]

There's a more general rule here… I see somebody putting other people's life or safety at risk, I step in and say something. When I see somebody obviously drunk weaving around on the road I call the police – and have.

Same principle.

 

[soulphantomflyer]

I think the problem is you should not fly a drone in a park filled with people. Doesn't matter if you are a newbie or season pilot. Period and end of story.