Possibly it was staged to make drone look bad and dangerous. I'm not falling
for that. Probably more convincing if it for cause some injury.
I am not in the habit of being disrespectful, but this is a ridiculous comment.
Here is what Infront Sports says went on:
23 December 2015
During the slalom race of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Madonna di Campiglio/Italy in the evening of 22 December 2015, an unmanned drone DFC-COPTER XR1 carrying a broadcast camera crashed into the snow during the second run of Austrian ski racer Marcel Hirscher.
The drone had been used to provide aerial shots of the slalom race, and was part of the host broadcast operation of Infront Sports & Media. The drone and the drone pilot have been provided by a third party service to Infront Sports & Media.
The initial technical report indicates a malfunction of the drone. According to the drone operating company, the most likely reason is a strong and unforeseen interference on the operating frequency, leading to limited operability. Detecting this, the pilot followed the official security procedure, purposely flying the drone as close as possible to the ground before releasing it. The aim was to destroy the drone, in order to prevent it from losing control.
We very much regret that this happened and especially that it was in close proximity to an athlete, in this case Marcel Hirscher. We are extremely relieved that no one was hurt and apologise once again to Marcel Hirscher, as well as to the FIS, the Austrian and Italian Ski Federations and the Local Organising Committee.
Infront has decided to mandate an external independent expert with a formal investigation of the matter.
For the time being, FIS and Infront have decided to refrain from using drones for broadcast purposes until a fully secured operation can be ensured.
Wow. What a pile of rubbish! They say it was interference and they lost control. So how do they bring it down if they couldn't control it? And why would they decide to dump it 2ft from the skier?
This is a failure on multiple levels:
I stick with my initial suspicion which is sudden battery exhaustion due to cold environment and operator error. Or, it was a hit! The drone landed only feet from the skier. So stupid.
- Any flight controller worth it's weight has a failsafe return-to-home capability. The FAA requires it for commercial use. Why did this FC not RTH automatically?
- In the absence of reliable GPS (which can be determined by the FC automatically), it should initiate a controlled descent in position. Why did it not execute an automated descent if GPS was unreliable?
- There is no way any half-way decent RC protocol would allow interference to command the drone to act independently of the controller. It should only enter failsafe if no signal is received. What protocol was being used that this was even possible?
- The operators should have tested their equipment in conjunction with other RF equipment being used prior to the event. Were such tests conducted?
- The operators should have identified suitable ditch areas to crash land the drone prior to operation. Were such ditch points identified beforehand?
- Why was this 30lb machine allowed to be right over the course? The drone should never have been positioned directly over the course. Which areas was the drone allowed/not allowed?
- The operator should not have executed a CSC directly over the course especially while a skier is approaching. Why would the operator think this was the safest action?
- If the operator had enough control to execute a CSC, why didn't they guide it away from the course first?