Drone collides AND grounds a firefighting Super Scooper in LA...

[DarR-T]

This thread should be mandatory reading for all of the folks that "think they know" when, in fact, they don't.

Mark

Yup. That reminds me.
"It not the things you don't know that gets you into trouble.
It's the things you know for sure that just ain't so."
Mark Twain

 

[DarR-T]

If the FBI does have the battery and can read the serial number (not destroyed or altered), the pilot will surely be in custody soon. Of course, depending on the level of cooperation from DJI. I suspect the FBI already has a court order compelling DJI to release the information.

That may not be a simple as that. As DJI's attorney, let's make a deal about those sanctions....

 

[Lazerbrains]

LOL!! You clearly have zero understanding of physics. Impact is a function of the relative speed of the two objects involved. And damage is a function of the ability of the impacted surfaces to withstand the impact, not the entire structure. The thin skin of the airplane wing is less resistant (and less supported) than the dense drone and it's battery.

Hope you don't vote.

Aren't you a peach. Insults aren't necessary - I clearly said it didn't make sense to me. I have two degrees, but they aren't in physics. I'm sure you know nothing of my specialties either, but I don't make fun of you. Try to be nice to others - it makes the world a better place.

 

[Erpator]

So DJI mini can easly damage engines or fuselage of boening or airbus when colliding when it landing/uptaking with speed like 250-300 km/h and over when altitude higher than 0 AGL.

 

[FunYin]

I hope so as well!
There is no need to fly a Drone anywhere near an emergency such as this!!!
I will say I am sure the damage was caused by an idiot with a drone However I have seen these aircraft first hand do some VERY amazing things in the air and right over treelines! These people are HERO'S
I am surprised these aircraft don't return from every mission beat to heck!

I agree. I live just south of the Palisades fire and watched the tankers and scoopers at work. Even if they can manage flying in high winds, you still see them getting "pushed around". It must take serious nerves - esp. at low altitude. The expanse of charred city is beyond comprehension. The city and region is in shock and is eerily quiet. Pretty much zero tourist activity in Santa Monica and a much appreciated police and national guard presence.
- B

 

[Photo Booth]

It will be interesting to see what happens if it turns out the DJI Mini belongs to some famous person with nearly unlimited funds to hire lawyers.

Or, not interesting if this all gets handled quietly and out of the public eye.

Mark

 

[mavic3usa]

It will be interesting to see what happens if it turns out the DJI Mini belongs to some famous person with nearly unlimited funds to hire lawyers.

Or, not interesting if this all gets handled quietly and out of the public eye.

Mark

I guess we should wait to hear what is said on Tuesday to see how the news cycle holds up.

 

[TheGrandPoohBah]

An airplane can take down a skyscraper and a less than 249g drone can take down an airplane....makes one go hmmmmm.

 

[Bad Santa]

An airplane can take down a skyscraper and a less than 249g drone can take down an airplane....makes one go hmmmmm.

Physics are weird and make no sense, right?

 

[SkyAngel1]

An airplane can take down a skyscraper and a less than 249g drone can take down an airplane....makes one go hmmmmm.

Ever seen what a dime sized pebblow does to a windshield kicked up from a dump truck at 60 mile per hour. Total right off.

 

[Spikemixture]

Birds don’t put holes in wings. The evidence is clear enough from a hole punched in the wing that they hit a flying hard object.

A mini3 weighs 9 oz and is plastic . I don't believe that drone was the culprit. AND it just happened to all be inside the wing. Give me break !

 

[Spikemixture]

Unfortunately for the drone community they pulled a drone out of the hole if this video is correct.

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Lock the person up if found. I just got done talking to someone who lives miles from the Palisades fire. People's lives are being ruined and some clown is flying their drone probably for Likes and thumbs up.

Every report I have seen says this one single picture shows the parts inside the plane wing .
That should be questioned IMO.

 

[Spikemixture]

Thanks for the video that clearly shows it. Still hard to get my head around, but there it is.

Was that drone a 9oz mini ?

 

[Blue Thunder Pilot]

So DJI mini can easly damage engines or fuselage of boening or airbus when colliding when it landing/uptaking with speed like 250-300 km/h and over when altitude higher than 0 AGL.

That's a pretty big leap based on what's known and been demonstrated so far. Care to walk that through your thought process?

Every report I have seen says this one single picture shows the parts inside the plane wing .

I don't find it surprising there'd be some evidence of something striking the plane inside it, given the size and shape of the hole. I'd be surprised if there wasn't evidence left.

Maybe if it was a sufficiently large and solid hail stone, there'd be no trace inside the wing.

A mini3 weighs 9 oz and is plastic . I don't believe that drone was the culprit.

A bird is soft and squishy with relatively flexible bones. Its body would absorb more of the energy of impact compared to the relatively stiff plastic and metal of a drone, motors, and battery. Less energy absorbed would mean more energy transferred.

Get enough birds, drones, and plane test wings and there might be a viable ratio established of bird size and weight vs drone size and weight and impact damage. Bird and drone types would be big variable. It would make an interesting graph. Would a peregrine cause a greater or lesser extent of damage than a mourning dove. Angle of 'attack' would be another variable. Questions, questions.

It is possible the FBI or someone on the ground had a Mini handy, maybe already broken, and tossed it in to the wing, and Mini was not what impacted the plane. Probability is not the same as possibility. A conspiracy to gain leverage over the Chinese? Maybe. I mean there were microchips in early COVID vaccines so anythings possible, right?

Whether or not a mini is capable of penetrating that wing under the given circumstances is admittedly conjecture. However I believe it is possible, and without further actual evidence to the contrary, is probably the culprit. I'm either wrong or I'm right. I'm not quitting my day job.

That said, I hope they get this guy. I really do. So say we all.

 

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It's okay to put away the tinfoil hats!

Mark

 

[Torque]

I tried stabbing my arm with a piece of straw, didn't even leave a scratch.
Yet I've seen tornadoes bury a piece of dry straw several inches deep in a tree trunk.
That must really hurt the heads of the armchair physicists here.

 

[Bad Santa]

I'm the skeptic here. I'm the one who is going to be the Devil's advocate. Don't nobody try to take that away from me!!
After seeing the drone fragments, seeing the thickness of the aluminum airplane wing, knowing what I do about airplane aluminum, I can say that the damage to the plane wing is consistent with the shape of an impact of a DJI mini drone (though there are many other things that would leave a similar shape. No, I won't list them).
I can say that the damage that appears in the evidence bag is consistent with the damage that would occur if the drone impacted or were impacted upon, at a high rate of speed. Whether is was impacted while flying or had impacted during a fall.
Witnesses indicate the fragments were retrieved from inside the wing of the airplane that appears to have damage consistent with that of a DJI drone.
I conclude that, assuming the witnesses are telling the truth, the drone fragments were the remnants of an intact drone that experienced a collision with the wing of that particular airplane. Furthermore, that the damage to that plane wing was caused by the drone (now fragmented) that has been pictured.

HOWEVER.... I find it extremely interesting that there's a video out there of a test of a drone being fired to that very exact angle on the lead edge of an airplane.

So, if anyone wants to throw a conspiracy theory out there, making it about the drone impact is the losing argument.
The quality conspiracy theory was whether or not the plane was flying at all when it was damaged. And whether or not the resulting images are those of a test to see what kind of damage would occur to the lead edge of an airplane at a 228mph impact, as demonstrated in the video above.

 

[mavic3usa]

The question came up again and it was asked what exactly were all those unexplained "drone" sightings over New Jersey and the outcome is going to be follow-up to find out exactly an explanation and see what can be shared. As of now, the official government reply is still pending.

 

[ryguy80]

Apparently, Ben Afflick may have been involved: Ben Affleck questioned as FBI hunts for rogue drone pilot

 

[Papa Echo]

An airplane can take down a skyscraper and a less than 249g drone can take down an airplane....makes one go hmmmmm.

When airplanes took down the skyscrapers in New York in 2001 there was a lot of energy involved. The Mini 3 didn't crash the Super Scooper. Obviously it kept flying and landed safely. But for safety reasons the airplane was grounded and repaired. That's a difference.