Drone Hinders Medical Chopper According to Police

The cops side of the story is one thing, the pilot's side is another.
Cops are always eager to exert their authority over YOU because they have the power.
What harm was there to any thing with the bird in the air? Any decent pilot would ensure his bird would not interfere with a real helicopter in any way.
Why is it cops always slap "disorderly conduct" charges when they don't get their way?
 
Suwaneeguy said:
The cops side of the story is one thing, the pilot's side is another.
Cops are always eager to exert their authority over YOU because they have the power.
What harm was there to any thing with the bird in the air? Any decent pilot would ensure his bird would not interfere with a real helicopter in any way.
Why is it cops always slap "disorderly conduct" charges when they don't get their way?

Abuse of power. Big problem in a lot of places. Only reason we hear of it more often is because everyone is 'armed' with a camera now a day.

Now this doesn't mean that all cops are bad or anything like that (i have quite a few friends that are police officers and they are all great chaps)... but it does make you question the legal system and just how much lean way police officers have (we all remember the big SUV incident and how one of the biker was a under-cover cop... and partake in the beating of the civilian)...

Like i mentioned earlier... i really want to hear the WHOLE story and not some half baked BS fed by some newspaper. I don't know why anyone wouldn't put their drones down in this situation when properly informed and not treated like some third rate citizen 'just cuz i told you'.
 
Suwaneeguy said:
The cops side of the story is one thing, the pilot's side is another.
Cops are always eager to exert their authority over YOU because they have the power.
What harm was there to any thing with the bird in the air? Any decent pilot would ensure his bird would not interfere with a real helicopter in any way.
Why is it cops always slap "disorderly conduct" charges when they don't get their way?

Murphy's Law. If you fly RC enough, you will crash! Sometimes by user error, sometimes by mechanical or electrical. RC is far from reliable or dependable, not yet anyways. If you've been in this hobby for a while, you should know the rule of thumb--be prepared to crash and crash alot. There is always harm.
 
If he felt it necessary to let everyone know he wasn't an idiot, he must have done something to make everyone question it in the first place. Paradoxical.
 
ianwood said:
If he felt it necessary to let everyone know he wasn't an idiot, he must have done something to make everyone question it in the first place. Paradoxical.

Or he reads internet forum and knows a lot of people are VERY quick to judge.
 
Ronan87 said:
Like i mentioned earlier... i really want to hear the WHOLE story and not some half baked BS fed by some newspaper. I don't know why anyone wouldn't put their drones down in this situation when properly informed and not treated like some third rate citizen 'just cuz i told you'.

i think this is the right direction... we only know the part of the story... that which was reported.

i am pretty sure we would all bring our machine down if told to by authorities, then argue (if we must) once on the ground rather than ignoring cops, as that just never comes out positive- right or wrong!
 
I think a lot of people are missing the point. Over an accident scene the police have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the scene. Also the privacy of the victims. Would you like someone flying a drone over you filming you whole you lay dying waiting for the rescue chopper?
 
Ozzyguy said:
I think a lot of people are missing the point. Over an accident scene the police have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the scene. Also the privacy of the victims. Would you like someone flying a drone over you filming you whole you lay dying waiting for the rescue chopper?

Is that what happened? I must have missed that in the article. Was he filming details or was it a distance filming as news helis do all the time?? nobody said the cops were wrong, although, that was assumed due to some folks experiences.
i would fully agree that they (the cops) have a definate responsibility to keep the scene safe and secure but we really don't have details. police have actually over reacted before believe it or not.
Ozzguy you seem angry about this... do you have details that we were not privy to?
 
Not angry. I am mildly miffed. Ambulance chasing is just not something I'm into. I'm open to being proven wrong should more details emerge though and he may not have even been filming the crash scene.(perhaps just nearby?). Just for me I would not be the kind of person who would deliberately film on or near such an event. If that's what he was doing. I'll give the benefit of the doubt.
 
Ozzyguy reminds me of people that i have encountered when working in the news industry. :lol:
 
Ozzyguy said:
Not angry. I am mildly miffed. Ambulance chasing is just not something I'm into. I'm open to being proven wrong should more details emerge though and he may not have even been filming the crash scene.(perhaps just nearby?). Just for me I would not be the kind of person who would deliberately film on or near such an event. If that's what he was doing. I'll give the benefit of the doubt.

understood, with everything in text it's hard to determine ones demeanor. your above statement feels much more like your opinion than a forced surety. I am always open to anyone's opinion when stated as such and I can clearly see your position.

I would fully agree if this guy had a scanner next to a charged battery waiting for mayhem so he can record some carnage.. if we find this is the case, your statements will be mirrored by me as well!

I just have to say again, none of us really know what happened for sure. I bet the court outcome will be publicized as well though and then we will all know a bit more!
 
I posted this in another thread, but I have a very close/old friend who flies EMS helis for a living. The idea of some nimrod with a Phantom exercising HIS right to take video scares the crap out of him and his fellow pilots. They are risking their lives to fly into a high stress situation in a random landing zone. The last thing they need to be worried about is some guy who just got his Phantom a week ago and still has no idea what all the pretty blinking lights mean to be in their airspace.
 
SilentAV8R said:
I posted this in another thread, but I have a very close/old friend who flies EMS helis for a living. The idea of some nimrod with a Phantom exercising HIS right to take video scares the crap out of him and his fellow pilots. They are risking their lives to fly into a high stress situation in a random landing zone. The last thing they need to be worried about is some guy who just got his Phantom a week ago and still has no idea what all the pretty blinking lights mean to be in their airspace.

Id be more worried about a bird strike or hitting a tree/electrical pole...

Props to your friends, my cousin does the same thing. High stress work (and in France paid very little).
 
Ronan87 said:
SilentAV8R said:
I posted this in another thread, but I have a very close/old friend who flies EMS helis for a living. The idea of some nimrod with a Phantom exercising HIS right to take video scares the crap out of him and his fellow pilots. They are risking their lives to fly into a high stress situation in a random landing zone. The last thing they need to be worried about is some guy who just got his Phantom a week ago and still has no idea what all the pretty blinking lights mean to be in their airspace.

Id be more worried about a bird strike or hitting a tree/electrical pole...

Props to your friends, my cousin does the same thing. High stress work (and in France paid very little).

They live every day with birds, poles, wires, etc. But having to deal with an added risk that can be avoided by a Phantom pilot acting like a responsible adult does not seem to me to be too much to ask.
 
http://www.statter911.com/2014/04/16/man-flying-drone-crash-scene-oh-arrested/

a little more info but nothing really to sway either way...
nobody has stated whether or not he continued to fly once the emt heli was in the area even though they are headlining that he impeded the landing. the heli landed and took off without incident, this is fact and a good thing!
in my opinion (and this is pure speculation based on the comments in the video by the police chief) the police are trying to make a point that they are in charge...(they absolutely are in charge.) he did say "if I knew the heli was coming I would have landed"... this makes me think they told him and he may have moved aside thinking he was out of the way, but continued to fly until told a second time and the officers were then angry with him. he didn't run or resist however. I really want to hear the argument that says he was causing a problem and specifically what the problem was... this would be an important piece of the puzzle used to make a decision on who was wrong or right here. interesting how the Boston UAV fire footage was deemed helpful by the fire department in the link's video.
 
If I may just chime in here:

It's one thing to say "I'm within my rights" when flying. The point is though, even if something is within your rights, sometimes your RESPONSIBILITY is to put your rights aside. For instance, was he within his rights to fly a drone over an accident scene? Let's say he was, for the sake of argument. At some point, though, people with a sense of responsibility would probably land and get out of the way of the accident scene, or at the very least land out of a sense of decorum and respect for people who are injured. I'll trot out the tired cliche "with great power comes great responsibility" line again here ;)

As for the people saying "anyone should know that a drone pilot isn't going to get in the way with his drone"....YOU may know that, and *I* may know that, but the average person/police officer doesn't know that, and is going to act accordingly. It seems to me that a big part of being a drone owner, at this moment in history when drones are starting to enter the public consciousness, is to have the responsibility to understand and acknowledge that people aren't going to be familiar with drones, and we should cut them a little slack, and work constructively with them, rather than "make a stand for our rights".
 

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