Blackout by drone?

[Phill]

Must have been a big drone to bring down a power line?

Drone causes blackout in Kingsley after bringing down powerlines
PerthNow
May 22, 2019 11:59AM
TOPICS
WA News
A drone has been blamed for wiping out power to around 3000 Western Power customers on Tuesday night after it crashed into powerlines in Kingsley.
The incident occurred just after 7pm with customers reporting a power line had fallen across the road near the corner of Kingsley Avenue and Whitfords Drive.
Andy Shaw, Western Power Head of Safety, said an emergency response crew attended to make the area safe. A network operations team restored power about 8pm, redirecting electricity through unaffected parts of the grid.
“The cause of the outage is believed to be from a drone flying in to the network after reports from customers of a drone flying in the area moments before the outage,” Mr Shaw said.

“The drone was then reported to have been picked up by a member of the public after the line had been brought down.”
Worryingly, Mr Shaw said, a member of the public potentially put their safety at risk to collect the downed drone soon after the crash.
“What is concerning is the report of a person allegedly coming close to a fallen powerline to retrieve some of their property, and not thought to make the safe call and stay away from a potential electrical hazard,” he said
“We always treat these types of hazards as an emergency incident and will send the closest crew, under lights and sirens, to attend to ensure the community is safe from the potential of electric shock.”

 

[Bigbird48]

no pictures it didn't happen LOL

 

[brett8883]

Must have been a big drone to bring down a power line?

Drone causes blackout in Kingsley after bringing down powerlines
PerthNow
May 22, 2019 11:59AM
TOPICS
WA News
A drone has been blamed for wiping out power to around 3000 Western Power customers on Tuesday night after it crashed into powerlines in Kingsley.
The incident occurred just after 7pm with customers reporting a power line had fallen across the road near the corner of Kingsley Avenue and Whitfords Drive.
Andy Shaw, Western Power Head of Safety, said an emergency response crew attended to make the area safe. A network operations team restored power about 8pm, redirecting electricity through unaffected parts of the grid.
“The cause of the outage is believed to be from a drone flying in to the network after reports from customers of a drone flying in the area moments before the outage,” Mr Shaw said.

“The drone was then reported to have been picked up by a member of the public after the line had been brought down.”
Worryingly, Mr Shaw said, a member of the public potentially put their safety at risk to collect the downed drone soon after the crash.
“What is concerning is the report of a person allegedly coming close to a fallen powerline to retrieve some of their property, and not thought to make the safe call and stay away from a potential electrical hazard,” he said
“We always treat these types of hazards as an emergency incident and will send the closest crew, under lights and sirens, to attend to ensure the community is safe from the potential of electric shock.”

Sounds like fake news to me. The only evidence they cite is: “The cause of the outage is believed to be from a drone flying in to the network after reports from customers of a drone flying in the area moments before the outage,”

Nobody saw the drone fly into the lines they just saw a drone flying around and then the power lines came down.

 

[ac0j]

Drones are strange... They can supposedly bring down Helicopters, airplanes, and power lines. Even kill people.
But in a battle with a fragile bird, the bird brings down the drone every time and flies away.

 

[brett8883]

Drones are strange... They can supposedly bring down Helicopters, airplanes, and power lines. Even kill people.
But in a battle with a fragile bird, the bird brings down the drone every time and flies away.

Don’t forget about their mortal enemy balloons!

 

[Phill]

Maybe the falling power line hit the drone?

 

[Bigbird48]

Drones are strange... They can supposedly bring down Helicopters, airplanes, and power lines. Even kill people.
But in a battle with a fragile bird, the bird brings down the drone every time and flies away.

hey you for got trains they've been said to derail train too

 

[Bigbird48]

I had a humming bird attack my MA today, I went straight up little guy lost it. maybe was a humming bird brought down the lines LOL

 

[brett8883]

I had a humming bird attack my MA today, I went straight up little guy lost it. maybe was a humming bird brought down the lines LOL

On that note I’ve also seen on here that drones are extremely hazardous to hornets so if anybody has a hornet for a pet or is a hornet themselves then you are right to be scared and I don’t blame your concern and animosity towards drones.

 

[brettbrandon]

 

[brett8883]

Yep that’s the one

 

[BD0G]

Hornet's in the mist!

 

[RayOZ]

Some are quick jump to conclusions, some are quick to dismiss it.
Surely emergency response crew can check the power line to see if there are traces of it being cut by propellers, or there might be pieces of propellers lying somewhere. They shouldn't just jump into the conclusion because some bystanders said they saw a drone flying around. How come no one took photo's or videos of the person who purportedly picked up the drone?

 

[brett8883]

Some are quick jump to conclusions, some are quick to dismiss it.
Surely emergency response crew can check the power line to see if there are traces of it being cut by propellers, or there might be pieces of propellers lying somewhere. They shouldn't just jump into the conclusion because some bystanders said they saw a drone flying around. How come no one took photo's or videos of the person who purportedly picked up the drone?

And how did a 3in plastic propeller cut through 2inches of insulated metal wire?

 

[Phill]

The drone will be easy to find.
It's the one with the hardened steel props.

 

[RayOZ]

I think it most cases, the drone would lose to the power line. But depending on the size, or where it crashed, like transmission box, who know what can happen. I just wish reporters do a bit more research before reporting. Too many journalists these days mix a lot of their own opinions and assumptions to little bits of facts and report them as news. And they wonder why most people don't trust mainstream media.

 

[THE CYBORG]

“the report of a person allegedly”
Notice the use of the word ALLEGEDLY the out clause for any fake news.

 

[Lapeer20m]

Power lines are tough. I once felled a tree right onto the power lines and they didn’t break. I don’t recommend trying this at home.

Power lines mostly don’t break even during 100+mph wind storms.

When it comes to a consumer drone breaking a power line, I call bologna

 

[Taylor1430]

Power lines are tough. I once felled a tree right onto the power lines and they didn’t break. I don’t recommend trying this at home.

Power lines mostly don’t break even during 100+mph wind storms.

When it comes to a consumer drone breaking a power line, I call bologna

I've seen vehicle accidents where a truck will take out almost the entire pole....leaving the top of the pole and wires dangling in the sky.

 

[ac0j]

Don’t forget about their mortal enemy balloons!

It’s wasn’t the balloons, it was the tensile strength of the industrial grade ballon string that was used. They should use that balloon string to reinforce power lines.