My first accident

[JGF21]

So I had the bird up during father's day (my dad is really impressed with the Inspire), and as I was landing, my 8 year old nephew went running up to the bird, wanting to touch it. I reacted pretty quickly and was able to pick him up and move him, but ended up hitting the control sticks on the inspire. It ended up catching me on the inside of my right leg. Have about a 3 inch by 1 inch gash in the leg that bled profusely. Took my nephew about 30 feet from the drone and told him that was as close as he was ever going to get to it ever again.

No damage to the bird, guess I'm not as tough as I thought.

 

[DodgeP]

I'm not trying to be a d*ckhead here but who wasn't watching the kid and why was he able to get so close that you had to take flight again to keep him out of danger?

 

[Kevin Hancox]

If there is ever any kids near where i am, i won't even contemplate landing, i always chose somewhere to take off that is quite, unfortunately, that is not always the case when landing, as people are of an inquisitive nature...! And i will always ask whoever is around to ensure they are holding their children if they have got closer... That or will fly to a quieter location to land and power down the props...

 

[GuyNamedLindsey]

It's worse than deer in headlights when you're coming down.

 

[Beverly Hills Aerials]

close call, great that only you were hurt. sometimes it takes a moment like that to respect the drone and how dangerous it is. i have some stitches myself, purely because i was so confident and failed to realized how dangerous those blades are.

 

[JGF21]

I'm not trying to be a d*ckhead here but who wasn't watching the kid and why was he able to get so close that you had to take flight again to keep him out of danger?

Yea, that would be my sister. I think the kids all get it now... seeing an open gushing wound, they're probably scared enough of the thing to stay away now.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

How many stitches?

 

[JGF21]

Not too bad, only four. I was contemplating not getting any, but my work wife was concerned enough that I went after work on Monday.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

As said before in this thread, Kids are like magnets to these things and generally anything that can cause them bodily harm. I was filming a Jr. Triathlon meet with a friend and had to perform quite a juggling act when it was time to land trying to keep the little lads and lasses a safe distance away while moms and dad's were seemingly oblivious, and the ones who weren't, some of their kids seemed to suffer from "hearing problems." Though they look like water wings on Michael Phelps, I'm thinking about using prop guards when flying in any proximity to people.

If that wasn't enough to satisfy their masochistic tendencies, after the meet was over, I happened upon a Pygmy Rattlesnake just off one of the trails. As soon as word got out, which was less time than my ability to get the thing under my control, the miniature Mongol hoard showed up, once again displaying almost zero sense of self-preservation. I know I'm amazed my own childhood didn't kill me, but I think kids today are so overprotected they've lost any sense of danger.

 

[Pedros]

A bad experience, thank God it was not serious, the next time you have to extreme precautions

Better luck next time

 

[Dave Elmore]

Safety is the paramount principle of flying any drone, helicopter, airplanes, etc. please use this as a learning lesson because all it would take it the media to jump on negative publicity and we as drone owners will end up dealing with more regulations. The government already their darn fingers in too much of you personal life. Fly safe and have fun.

 

[Raymondo]

People thought it overkill when I added a loud hailer / megaphone to my kit. Give it to a responsible adult who stands near you. 'STOP leave drone alone. It can hurt you' works wonders.

 

[MrLaw10]

This good advice seems to extend to dogs, cats and even parrots as well. Seems they all want to just attack/touch it!

 

[Area21]

Commercial pilots and to comply with your insurance in the uk you would need a safety distance of 30 m from 'persons not under your control 'when landing.

 

[IrishSights]

Commercial pilots and to comply with your insurance in the uk you would need a safety distance of 30 m from 'persons not under your control 'when landing.

Not just commercial pilots need to comply with this! All UK drone operators including enthusiasts need too.


Holder of CAA PFAW
BNUS-S Certified Pilot