Octocopter Plunges into Crowd in Virginia

FrankB said:
http://wtvr.com/2013/08/24/watch-drone-crashes-into-crowd-at-great-bull-run/

This video is going to be played time and time again to support concerns that UAV use needs to be better regulated.

A cardinal rule when you fly a drone, even an octocopter that can normally still fly if an engine fails, is that you must never fly it over a crowd.

But standing in front of charging bulls is perfectly acceptable :D .
 
My guess is that this was still a case of pilot error, and not mechanical malfunction, as is suggested by the fact that the drone suddenly veered to the side.

Fortunately, the Phantom is small and light enough to not cause much damage or injury- even if you do hit someone. I always fly with the prop guards attached- they add minimal weight and have virtually no effect on flight characteristics, but reduce damage if you fly into brush or trees, and reduce the chance of injury if you should happen to fly into someone.
 
Glockindahaus said:
But standing in front of charging bulls is perfectly acceptable :D .

I think that's a lot of bull. :lol:

Seriously, there is a big difference between deliberately running with the bulls (voluntary risk) and being in the audience as someone, unbeknownst to you, flies a drone over you (involuntary risk).

My Transport Canada permit requires that I (a) not fly over crowds and (b) carry at least $100,000 in liability insurance in case the unexpected happens.
 
FrankB said:
Glockindahaus said:
But standing in front of charging bulls is perfectly acceptable :D .

I think that's a lot of bull. :lol:

Seriously, there is a big difference between deliberately running with the bulls (voluntary risk) and being in the audience as someone, unbeknownst to you, flies a drone over you (involuntary risk).

My Transport Canada permit requires that I (a) not fly over crowds and (b) carry at least $100,000 in liability insurance in case the unexpected happens.

Yea, I agree it is pilot error anyway you look at it and he was not following safe guidelines.
 
I just wondered, before you guys nail him to the cross, if we have heard from the operator.

Its not clear to me it is operator error. Its also not clear to me that he wasn't invited, that the crowd wasn't informed it was there.

So many of you want to nail everyone who had an incident to the cross and label it as operator error before you know their whole story.

Frank, who said he didn't have insurance? And your $100K would be eaten up in pain and suffering costs and legal costs.

Pitiful really.

I hope no one was seriously hurt.

D
 
Sadly, you can not regulate "stupid"! The FAA reg for not flying over a crowd is there for a reason...safety.
 
CameraGuy said:
I just wondered, before you guys nail him to the cross, if we have heard from the operator.

Its not clear to me it is operator error. Its also not clear to me that he wasn't invited, that the crowd wasn't informed it was there.
D

That's never going to fly as a defence. You can't base operations on some vauge notion of crowd acceptance of risk because they're really not sufficiently informed. Any argument along those lines becomes circular - the airworthiness authority approves my flight over the crowd based on their voluntary acceptance of risk, and they accept the risk because the airworthiness authority says it's ok ...

You can justify it for an actively informed group, such as flying near emergency services personnel, but not the general public.
 
fizzviic said:
Sadly, you can not regulate "stupid"! The FAA reg for not flying over a crowd is there for a reason...safety.

You should see what a full size helicopter does while getting crowd shots for movies. It get's every bit as close as this drone.
 
will27 said:
fizzviic said:
Sadly, you can not regulate "stupid"! The FAA reg for not flying over a crowd is there for a reason...safety.

You should see what a full size helicopter does while getting crowd shots for movies. It get's every bit as close as this drone.

Yes ... but there are recognised standards for design, construction, maintenance and pilot qualifications for manned helicopters. Some aircraft are even so safe that people are willing to INSIDE them!!!
 
mroberts said:
will27 said:
fizzviic said:
Sadly, you can not regulate "stupid"! The FAA reg for not flying over a crowd is there for a reason...safety.

You should see what a full size helicopter does while getting crowd shots for movies. It get's every bit as close as this drone.

Yes ... but there are recognised standards for design, construction, maintenance and pilot qualifications for manned helicopters. Some aircraft are even so safe that people are willing to INSIDE them!!!

Real aircraft do crash and have killed many spectators in airshows and likely other events too. I think I would much rather an event is filmed with a multi rotor if it avoids the need for a full size heli to be flown close to crowds. The main difference is that I the full size although much more dangerous in the event of the crash the pilot is likely the first person killed and so he will do all he possibly can to avoid this.

Flying a small rc multi from the ground is highly unlikely to injure the pilot and they are more prone to crashing. Though this is an I incident that nobody wants to see it would have been a heck of a lot worse had it been a full size helli that crashed into the crowd. Regarding flying over crowds or not the thing is it doesn't really matter if you fly directly above people as a loss of control crash will cause it to go down somewhere other then where you decide and this could be anywhere within range of the craft.

I think the example of the wedding crasher idiot is a better example of what should be avoided as that was 100% pilot error and stupid high risk flying around people. This guy looks to be taking fairly general aerial shots not flying deliberately close to the crowd until he completely loses control for whatever reason. I have seen hundreds of videos shot with multicopters and full size heli's in pretty much the same way but this was the first one unlucky enough7gh to have a crash.

Anyone that has seen the xfactor uk crash into the river, that could just as easily have ended up in the crowd as this just lucky for the guy it went down in the river. Im sure his flight plan didnt include crashing into the river or crowd same as this guy. The wedding crasher idiot however flew his intended plan it seems and maintained full control all the way to impact so that is more the flying that should be avoided as accidents do and will happen when you least expect it. If you hit someone square in the face without losing control that is the definition of an idiot.
 
mroberts said:
CameraGuy said:
I just wondered, before you guys nail him to the cross, if we have heard from the operator.

Its not clear to me it is operator error. Its also not clear to me that he wasn't invited, that the crowd wasn't informed it was there.
D

That's never going to fly as a defence. You can't base operations on some vauge notion of crowd acceptance of risk because they're really not sufficiently informed. Any argument along those lines becomes circular - the airworthiness authority approves my flight over the crowd based on their voluntary acceptance of risk, and they accept the risk because the airworthiness authority says it's ok ...

You can justify it for an actively informed group, such as flying near emergency services personnel, but not the general public.


Who said it was a defence? What I said was you guys love to nail some guy to a cross without knowing all the details of the event.

I'm tired of reading everyones negative comments everytime something happens.

None of you guys ever make mistakes. It amazes me how perfect anonymous forum participants are.

Jeff Foxworthy does a great bit about the toys we had as kids and how they would never be allowed today. It's about wood burning kits, and chemistry sets. Things we played with that we wouldn't consider giving to kids today. It's too bad. Those toys were fun.

Why is everything evil these days. I just don't get it. A quad covering an event, where there is a mistake, operator error, or a malfunction - it doesn't matter. At the rate you guys are going, you will all end up living in a bubble afraid of your shadows.

D
 

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