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Known fatal drone/SUAS accident ?

Joined
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Denmark
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www.dronefyn.dk
I've tried searching the web and found nothing, so I try ask here.

Have you heard or read about a small UAS or drone that was involved in a fatal accident ?

Of course we have all seen the X8 that drop behind a skier recently, ore Enrigue Iglesias that hurt his finger when he tried to move a flying inspire 1. But have anybody so far been killed by a drone crash ?
 
Not that I know of, not even with a big drone.
The little guy that lost his eye recently.....
Serious enough, but fatal, no.
 
My wife was extremely near killing me when I updated my B model with an X5 and a V2 lightbridge and GL658C controller after having just purchased my PRO. It was close but I made it. Having purchased over 20 lenses to judge their viability for X5 use may have also had an effect on her demeanor. I'm using the auto-start on my truck for now just encase.:p

ohh that one I know, but then technically it is you wife that killed you and not your drone. :)

No known fatalities but one extremely serious life changing event for a 18 month old baby losing an eye through an idiot flying a drone where he should not.

That one I have also read. Of course it is seriously but not fatal.

The reason why I ask is I am going to a conference tomorrow about the future Danish legislation on UAS/Drones, and in the presentation they believe that EASA will look at this new laws that will implement restrictions when flying UAS.

I suspect the Danish Parliament is once again using a sledgehammer to miss the nut in this case. There is probably flying millions of small UAS around the world and if nobody has got very seriously injured or killed and then it is the story with sledgehammer and the nut. :confused:
 
Any injury or death is totally acceptable. You are making a ridiculously poor distinction if you intend to take this line to support your arguments. No wonder the politicians are acting as they are.

I do think rules and legislation is a good thing by they should be reasonable in relation to the risk. I can see you are from UK. In 2013 there was 381 drowning and other water related deaths in the UK Source - Would it not then make sense to prohibit all swimming in the UK ? Do you have rules and legislation about take a swim ?
(I know that all those accidents not only was swimming - but I think you get the point)
 
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Any injury or death is totally acceptable. You are making a ridiculously poor distinction if you intend to take this line to support your arguments. No wonder the politicians are acting as they are.
Deaths happen from all kinds of apparently safe activities and objects.
It's easy to say that no death or injury is acceptable but what would you do about such dangerous things as steps?
Every year over 600 deaths occur in the UK from falls on steps.
 
I do think rules and legislation is a good thing by they should be reasonable in relation to the risk. I can see you are from UK. In 2013 there was 381 drowning and other water related deaths in the UK Source - Would it not then make sense to prohibit all swimming in the UK ? Do you have rules and legislation about take a swim ?
(I know that all those accidents not only was swimming - but I think you get the point)

We're a part of the aviation world. There's nothing you can say or do that changes the general top priorities in aviation, being risk avoidance, mitigation and management.
If our drones would be driving or floating things would be simpler.
 
There is a difference between self inflicted unintentional injury or death by slips falls and drowning when you go for a swim in a river. Than someone minding there own business walking down a street when a drone being flown by an irresponsible pilot dropping on to your head from 200 ft don't you think?
 
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When I pulled the trigger on the X5R (I'm a hobbyist), it was a near death experience with the wife. Probably doesn't count tho

You're a hobbyist and you bought the X5R?
What on earth for? It's not like you're shooting a Spielberg movie!
As a hobbyist, the X3 would be good enough!
 
You're a hobbyist and you bought the X5R?
What on earth for? It's not like you're shooting a Spielberg movie!
As a hobbyist, the X3 would be good enough!
Ever bought a car with roll up windows and not much later after you wish you bought the model with electric windows. :p
 
You're a hobbyist and you bought the X5R?
What on earth for? It's not like you're shooting a Spielberg movie!
As a hobbyist, the X3 would be good enough!

Quality. I can't take the mushy mess of the X3/X5. And the X3/X5 induces nausea on my wall sized 4K TV with the flickering problems. I want the best quality footage I can get for my videos.

I also don't own a DSLR so the X5R with OSMO and Inspire will be my main and only camera.
 
I'm new to owning a true UAS...my current I1 is my first REAL UAS....but I've had several smaller RC aircraft in the past, so it is definitely not a new experience for me. That said, here in the US, the rules seem to be knee-jerk reactions to unrealistic perceptions of the uses of the equipment.....mainly spying. Locally, in North Carolina, there is an active moratorium on commercial use of UAS. In other words, I can't officially fly... at all.... for my photography business, but as a hobbyist, I can do pretty much anything I want...within the rules of VFR and a 400' ceiling. Now, the FAA requires that my hobby has to registered with them. I'm not completely opposed to a registration system as such, but I think their intention with registration is more to see what's out there rather than for safety purposes.

I am also an Emergency Management Professional in charge of life-safety actions for my jurisdiction. That includes search and rescue operations. After 25 years in the profession, I cannot fathom a reason why the FAA would not allow the use of UAS equipped with FLIR to locate and rescue a human being. But currently, we can't use them for any Public Safety reason without COAs that in some cases take months to get. We are readily allowed to utilize helicopters and fixed-wing craft billed out at thousands of dollars per hour and often times unavailable when needed, but we are not even allowed to purchase UAS quads or octos without approval from the state and to date, no approval has been given to ANY of the 100 county jurisdictions here.

What gives? Can it be that the restrictions are politically motivated? Perhaps economically motivated? I honestly don't know, but I really do feel that there are reasons other than general safety that come into play when considering the current level of regulations that have been and are being placed on UAS. I have a suspicion that the mentality of those that are regulating so heavily, comes from our quads being called Drones. The word Drone has a decidedly military connotation since the large, autonomous and weaponized versions are so heavily used in wars now. If we, as hobbyists and professional photographers/videographers would refer to them as something other than drones, I really feel that we can reduce the amount of fear and ultimately improve our relationship with lawmakers. Perhaps we should just call them aerial cameras........

Just my $0.02 worth......
 
I'm new to owning a true UAS...my current I1 is my first REAL UAS....but I've had several smaller RC aircraft in the past, so it is definitely not a new experience for me. That said, here in the US, the rules seem to be knee-jerk reactions to unrealistic perceptions of the uses of the equipment.....mainly spying. Locally, in North Carolina, there is an active moratorium on commercial use of UAS. In other words, I can't officially fly... at all.... for my photography business, but as a hobbyist, I can do pretty much anything I want...within the rules of VFR and a 400' ceiling. Now, the FAA requires that my hobby has to registered with them. I'm not completely opposed to a registration system as such, but I think their intention with registration is more to see what's out there rather than for safety purposes.

I am also an Emergency Management Professional in charge of life-safety actions for my jurisdiction. That includes search and rescue operations. After 25 years in the profession, I cannot fathom a reason why the FAA would not allow the use of UAS equipped with FLIR to locate and rescue a human being. But currently, we can't use them for any Public Safety reason without COAs that in some cases take months to get. We are readily allowed to utilize helicopters and fixed-wing craft billed out at thousands of dollars per hour and often times unavailable when needed, but we are not even allowed to purchase UAS quads or octos without approval from the state and to date, no approval has been given to ANY of the 100 county jurisdictions here.

What gives? Can it be that the restrictions are politically motivated? Perhaps economically motivated? I honestly don't know, but I really do feel that there are reasons other than general safety that come into play when considering the current level of regulations that have been and are being placed on UAS. I have a suspicion that the mentality of those that are regulating so heavily, comes from our quads being called Drones. The word Drone has a decidedly military connotation since the large, autonomous and weaponized versions are so heavily used in wars now. If we, as hobbyists and professional photographers/videographers would refer to them as something other than drones, I really feel that we can reduce the amount of fear and ultimately improve our relationship with lawmakers. Perhaps we should just call them aerial cameras........

Just my $0.02 worth......

I would agree that the current regulations in the USA requiring a 333 and CoA for commercial operation is unquestionably anti-commerce and the product of a mentality of the past century. Is there a blanket regulation against use of UAVs in NC? If so, I'm surprised since the FAA is already posturing to fight with the states over who has the legal authority over the sky.

My own observation into this as a future commercial operator is that we are living in a confluence of factors that have contributed to this problem. First, UAVs which have been seen as toys for the most part are now far more powerful and technologically advanced and this has made it such that almost anyone can get one in the air. Second, the vast majority of people buying and operating these advanced craft have no real experience, training or interest in anything but mindless entertainment. Third, the media continually posts negative stories about UAV use and reckless behavior. All these work together to create a negative view of the field in general.
 
There is a difference between self inflicted unintentional injury or death by slips falls and drowning when you go for a swim in a river. Than someone minding there own business walking down a street when a drone being flown by an irresponsible pilot dropping on to your head from 200 ft don't you think?

Were I live (Denmark) we have lots activities which can bring danger to other people. Every year lots of people get hurts with fireworks, either because the self do stupid things or other nearby do stupid things. Another place where we often see eye injury is when young boys plays with hardball/BB guns that shoot with 6 mm plastic pellets - without propper protection. There is no legislation or rules other than you have to be 18 years old to buy them. In Denmark (only 5.5 mill people) we have 20-30 children and young people that gets serious eye injury every year.

But drones/UAS are buzzwords and legislators and people in general don't understand it and think it very dangerous or offensive to there privat live.

There's nothing you can say or do that changes the general top priorities in aviation, being risk avoidance, mitigation and management.

Well, if we just sit on our asses all together and do nothing I think your right.
 
............ Is there a blanket regulation against use of UAVs in NC? If so, I'm surprised since the FAA is already posturing to fight with the states over who has the legal authority over the sky.

There is a current moratorium against commercial use of UAS in NC, even with 333 and CoA. I believe that is set to sunset in March, 2016 in favor of the supposed regulations forthcoming from FAA. NC Convened a committee (a year or so ago) of so-called "experts" to examine the situation and to establish guidelines and suggested regulations. The moratorium was intended to allow them time to come up with their opinions before it got out of hand. NC State University was granted the first FAA CoA for UAS operations to study the potential problems and come up with the recommendations. The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management has now been granted a CoA for limited Public Safety usage.....but so far the program is slow to ....get off the ground... if you'll pardon my pun. LOL! They are currently in development of a UAS program to include a dedicated training program and some sort of Ground Pilot certification. It will be interesting to watch it develop.

Where I have a problem with the regulations is in the restriction of commercial and public safety users, (who for all practical purposes would be much more likely to fly safely and responsibly) and little to no regulation of hobbyists. I'm really hoping that the forthcoming regulations will address many of the unknowns and make sane provisions for commercial users. I agree that there needs to be some sort of certification or licensing for UAS operators that would ensure, at least limited, general knowledge of rules and safety, but to lump them all into the same category as manned aircraft is nonsense. I have no desire to obtain a pilot's license, especially at a cost of $3K-$5K and the time invested in flying, etc, but I do have a desire to tap into the commercial side of aerial photography.

To address the States' vs. Federal authority...... If I read the authorizing legislation correctly, the FAA only has authority to regulate airspace above 400' and aircraft that can carry a payload of over 50lbs. Or did I dream that?
 
You're a hobbyist and you bought the X5R?
What on earth for? It's not like you're shooting a Spielberg movie!
As a hobbyist, the X3 would be good enough!
There you go again, challenging and judging someone's right to choose. It's no one's business but Damon's!

Sorry Damon, I know you can speak for yourself it just annoys me this sort of pompous statement.
 
There is a current moratorium against commercial use of UAS in NC, even with 333 and CoA. I believe that is set to sunset in March, 2016 in favor of the supposed regulations forthcoming from FAA. NC Convened a committee (a year or so ago) of so-called "experts" to examine the situation and to establish guidelines and suggested regulations. The moratorium was intended to allow them time to come up with their opinions before it got out of hand. NC State University was granted the first FAA CoA for UAS operations to study the potential problems and come up with the recommendations. The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management has now been granted a CoA for limited Public Safety usage.....but so far the program is slow to ....get off the ground... if you'll pardon my pun. LOL! They are currently in development of a UAS program to include a dedicated training program and some sort of Ground Pilot certification. It will be interesting to watch it develop.

Where I have a problem with the regulations is in the restriction of commercial and public safety users, (who for all practical purposes would be much more likely to fly safely and responsibly) and little to no regulation of hobbyists. I'm really hoping that the forthcoming regulations will address many of the unknowns and make sane provisions for commercial users. I agree that there needs to be some sort of certification or licensing for UAS operators that would ensure, at least limited, general knowledge of rules and safety, but to lump them all into the same category as manned aircraft is nonsense. I have no desire to obtain a pilot's license, especially at a cost of $3K-$5K and the time invested in flying, etc, but I do have a desire to tap into the commercial side of aerial photography.

To address the States' vs. Federal authority...... If I read the authorizing legislation correctly, the FAA only has authority to regulate airspace above 400' and aircraft that can carry a payload of over 50lbs. Or did I dream that?

According to the latest I've read the FAA has asserted they control all outdoor airspace from ground level up. Class G Airspace (and most areas other than big cities, military installations, airports, etc) includes the below 400' rule in most cases and it's considered unregulated in the sense it's not ATC control venue but, remains the domain of the FAA for the purposes of operational and safety regulations. A good resource to understand some of the airspace definitions and rules can be found here:

Airspace class (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I've tried searching the web and found nothing, so I try ask here.

Have you heard or read about a small UAS or drone that was involved in a fatal accident ?

Of course we have all seen the X8 that drop behind a skier recently, ore Enrigue Iglesias that hurt his finger when he tried to move a flying inspire 1. But have anybody so far been killed by a drone crash ?

Comming from the RC Side of things, there are a couple of fatalities I know about, but were isolated to people in the operation. The most recent was a guy in the USA (Ney York area I think), who was practicing inverted autos above his head with a Trex 700 electric(they are approximately 4.5-5kg). He was doing the popular blade stop and restart and it went wrong. The blade struck his head and almost decapitated him in front of his dad(it killed him). A multi rotor doesn't have to same kinetic energy and biggest risk in my view is a cut from the motor (inspire has a firmware provision now to stop the motor on an impact, would love to know what the force of impact is still), or actually just falling on someone from 400 feet, or hitting someone at full speed.


The Kinetic energy in RC heli's rotor blades are extremely dangerous as opposed to our RC mutlirotors(drones) (which are also dangerous, but don't hold the same amount of Kinetic energy as an RC heli's rotor blades). The other fatality I knew about was a pylon caller at one of the RC Pylon events getting hit by a engine/spinner while he was in the cage. This was a long time ago.

RC heli's have been the more dangerous due to the energy in the rotor heads, and extremely violent (awesome) 3D moves. I have seen a number of close calls also from blade/rotor head failures causing the 700 size carbon blades to depart. You can auto rotate a 700 heli easily though.
 

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