Drone Delays DHART Helicopter Taking Off With Seriously Injured Woman

[mavic3usa]

Zero injuries and zero damages from drones? Reality, as reflected by reports here, disagrees.

No, there have not been substantial injuries and damages by drones; we've been very lucky. But it's not reasonable to assume that will be the case as millions of additional uninformed operators come on line.

We can certainly wait until an uninformed goof flies his drone over ORD or SFO and it gets sucked into the intake of one of a departing A-300's two engines and results in a crash that kills 250 people. Or, we can be proactive about common sense, low cost education of all aircraft pilots. And we can reduce the need for more onerous drone regulations.

The automobile industry didn't want to put seatbelts in cars. Government did the right thing and made them mandatory. That didn't damage the automobile industry, and it certainly has saved a lot of lives and reduced a lot of injuries. If you find that government interference distasteful, you can protest by leaving your seatbelt unbuckled.

I'm not against all regulations, just some of it. For example, I like the regulation that says all drone manufacturers must produce drones with standard RID starting in December 2022. I also like the regulation that says all car manufacturers must produce cars which pass safety regulations which includes airbags and seatbelts. Anything that produces real results or attempts to honestly address valid safety concerns, I'm all for it and agree it's the government's responsibility to address it sincerely. So not exactly sure what you are referring to. Oh wait, a dishonest government sticker that will do nothing to resolve any problem we have now or could have in the future, that will cost us millions, never applied to half the sales which are private sales, and that if implemented would be done so not in good faith but only designed to scare the public, demonize the drone community, and highlight a fake issue* paving the way for even more unnecessary safety regulations trying to drive down 5 incidents to 4, that one?

*There are zero uninformed goofs flying their drones at a major US airports trying to bring down loaded passengers planes. If there are, we'd better consider something other than "a sticker."

Happy to address the problems from another angle, let me know when you are ready to work together to stop these problems before they even happen in the first place. I kinda thought that is what we are currently doing (since it has never happened) but ok, if there is more we can do, I'm listening.

 

[umanbean]

they keep coming out with new and improved idiots.

Excellent quote! Mind if I steal that one?

 

[MS Coast]

Oh wait, a dishonest government sticker that will do nothing to resolve any problem we have now or could have in the future, that will cost us millions, never applied to half the sales which are private sales, and that if implemented would be done so not in good faith but only designed to scare the public, demonize the drone community, and highlight a fake issue* paving the way for even more unnecessary safety regulations trying to drive down 5 incidents to 4, that one?

Wow. You've found some serious demons in that little imaginary sticker.

The dishonest government is going to design a sticker that scares the public, demonizes the drone community, promotes a fake issue, and has no possible benefits now or ever? And they're going to charge us millions of dollars?

Wow.

*There are zero uninformed goofs flying their drones at a major US airports

I'd love to believe that, but I've encountered frequent evidence to the contrary.

 

[mavic3usa]

Wow. You've found some serious demons in that little imaginary sticker.

The dishonest government is going to design a sticker that scares the public, demonizes the drone community, promotes a fake issue, and has no possible benefits now or ever? And they're going to charge us millions of dollars?

Wow.



I'd love to believe that, but I've encountered frequent evidence to the contrary.

It's not just the sticker. It could be a warning on the website or it could be an "I agree" screen on the start-up menu. Or it could be an interruption screen that lands your drone for a time-out if it detects you're not flying "like you are suppose to" or it could be a fee at the retail POS if you can't show a valid drone registration or it could be a loss of dispute privileges on eBay if you don't re-post the warning on your listing....or anything additional that will be dreamed up when the sticker isn't working to stop those incursion. I don't want it because it does nothing to solve any real problem. If you were walking thru a store and had no interest in drone but you saw all these bright red warning stickers on every drone box talking about death and destruction, what would you think?

If you encountered frequent evidence to the contrary, why not turn it over to the FAA or call their attention to it so they can take action on it? If they do and they land on a "sticker" solution (or similar), I can't support that. I only support real and effective solutions.

Again, when DJI implements something like this, it could be very effective and helpful to everyone. Why not encourage DJI to do more?

 

[MS Coast]

The stickers are now bright red and have intimidating death warnings.

I'm going out to shoot sunset photos of the bay. Over and out.

 

[mavic3usa]

The stickers are now bright red and have intimidating death warnings.

I'm going out to shoot sunset photos of the bay. Over and out.

Sorry but that's been my whole point, thought I was being clear on that point. When DJI does it, might turn out tasteful, helpful, and probably a good idea and I'm ok with it. If the manufacturer doesn't do it on their own or without being forced, it certainly goes wrong and it looks more like I described or it runs that risk; a risk that would never happen if DJI implemented it themselves. That's always been my point all along in many posts and it's the only reason why I commented on it when someone else brought it up. Hopefully you can see the different but it's a huge difference. If you cannot, that's ok too but you should at least expect me to voice my thoughts against it.

Again, it could be stickers or start up screens, or paragraphs in the manual, or signing off one a waiver at the cashier....a whole bunch of different useless unhelpful stuff. Don't get caught up on the stickers alone. But I should remind you that nobody else on the planet put stickers on the retail box, that's so 90s.

 

[Torque]

I prefer the plan we have right now which is 0 deaths, 0 injuries, $0 damages. Can your [new] plan top that?

I am aware of head injuries to a parade goer here in Seattle when a Phantom 3 (I believe) fell from the sky and hit two people. One was knocked to the ground and had a consussion from the impact. A quick google search shows nearly 4,500 injuries from 2015 to 2022 from drones.
Not sure about damages, but the Inspire that was hung up in power lines over the water and the houseboat community here a few years ago caused brown outs to electrical customers and cost $35,000 to have it removed. It required a crane on a barge, towed underneath it, and power cut for a few hours.

AE560/AE560: Drone Injuries and Safety Recommendations

This publication presents drone-related injury statistics and safety recommendations to prevent drone-related injuries. Written by Serap Gorucu and Yiannis Ampatzidis, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, June 2021.

edis.ifas.ufl.edu

 

[rjwmorrell]

I am aware of head injuries to a parade goer here in Seattle when a Phantom 3 (I believe) fell from the sky and hit two people. One was knocked to the ground and had a consussion from the impact. A quick google search shows nearly 4,500 injuries from 2015 to 2022 from drones.
Not sure about damages, but the Inspire that was hung up in power lines over the water and the houseboat community here a few years ago caused brown outs to electrical customers and cost $35,000 to have it removed. It required a crane on a barge, towed underneath it, and power cut for a few hours.

AE560/AE560: Drone Injuries and Safety Recommendations

This publication presents drone-related injury statistics and safety recommendations to prevent drone-related injuries. Written by Serap Gorucu and Yiannis Ampatzidis, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, June 2021.

edis.ifas.ufl.edu

There have been numerous cases of injuries and property damage involving drone use (or, more normally, misuse). In fact, it's so apparent that you don't even need to refute that user's comment in my opinion.

It's literally the reason why drones are regulated, and in particular, regulated by weight in most places.

 

[mavic3usa]

I am aware of head injuries to a parade goer here in Seattle when a Phantom 3 (I believe) fell from the sky and hit two people. One was knocked to the ground and had a consussion from the impact. A quick google search shows nearly 4,500 injuries from 2015 to 2022 from drones.
Not sure about damages, but the Inspire that was hung up in power lines over the water and the houseboat community here a few years ago caused brown outs to electrical customers and cost $35,000 to have it removed. It required a crane on a barge, towed underneath it, and power cut for a few hours.

AE560/AE560: Drone Injuries and Safety Recommendations

This publication presents drone-related injury statistics and safety recommendations to prevent drone-related injuries. Written by Serap Gorucu and Yiannis Ampatzidis, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, June 2021.

edis.ifas.ufl.edu

Thanks but of course you know when I posted 0/0/0, that's supposed to mean insignificant and negligible since it's impossible for drones to have a perfect track record. Still, I suspect if you go thru the data, there's a lot blamed on drones when it is likely not.

Either way, my point was drones being #9999 on the list of products doing damage and harm to people and their property, I just think the government should focus their safety efforts elsewhere on products that are actually hurting people. We don't need new rules and regulation to try to move the needle by a few spots but at the same time burden the honest and legal flyers unnecessarily. It's the manufacturer's turn to contribute to safety, let them take it from here and give it a shot using technology.

I understand sometimes it is necessary or desirable to improve the current situation (RID, TRUST, guidance to manufacturers) since there's always work to be done but even if you don't believe there are nefarious intentions, certainly we can see when over-control gets out of hand (NYC for example). I would like to do whatever we can now to keep a cap on it since we are such a vulnerable community. Even our own fellow flyers believe if 0/0/0 turns into 1/1/1 then we could get hit with a new round of onerous rules and regulations. Not exactly true but it's not beyond the pale either.

 

[Torque]

There have been numerous cases of injuries and property damage involving drone use (or, more normally, misuse). In fact, it's so apparent that you don't even need to refute that user's comment in my opinion.

Oh I know, aware of the facts here. The Boulder County wildfire in Colorado last year was caused by a crashed research drone, and there were fires in Oregon and Arizona caused by drones. Just off the top of my head I can think of several examples of injuries and damages. This was in the UK I believe, but a toddler lost his eye when a drone prop sliced through it several years ago?

 

[Torque]

Thanks but of course you know when I posted 0/0/0, that's supposed to mean insignificant and negligible since it's impossible for drones to have a perfect track record. Still, I suspect if you go thru the data, there's a lot blamed on drones when it is likely not.

A few minutes on Goggle would serve you well.

Man convicted in drone crash that injured woman during Seattle’s Pride Parade

A woman was knocked unconscious when she was struck by the small drone as she watched the annual parade in 2015.

www.seattletimes.com

 

[mavic3usa]

A few minutes on Goggle would serve you well.

Man convicted in drone crash that injured woman during Seattle’s Pride Parade

A woman was knocked unconscious when she was struck by the small drone as she watched the annual parade in 2015.

www.seattletimes.com

Yeah we talked about that incident already. Poor woman, feel badly for her even though it happened a few years back.

 

[Torque]

Yeah we talked about that incident already. Poor woman, feel badly for her even though it happened a few years back.

Hardly insignificant nor negligible though. But keep going....

 

[Torque]

Hardly insignificant nor negligible once again:

Toddler's eyeball sliced in half by drone propeller

An 18-month-old boy loses an eye after it is sliced in half by the propeller of a drone flown by a family friend.

www.bbc.com

List of unmanned aerial vehicle-related incidents - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BigAl07]

.........

Either way, my point was drones being #9999 on the list of products doing damage and harm to people and their property, I just think the government should focus their safety efforts elsewhere on products that are actually hurting people. We don't need new rules and regulation to try to move the needle by a few spots but at the same time burden the honest and legal flyers unnecessarily. It's the manufacturer's turn to contribute to safety, let them take it from here and give it a shot using technology.

.........

What you aren't seeming to understand is that when a UAS/Drone does something to get the Public's Attention (let's say for instance, delaying a MediVac Helicopter from carrying a seriously injured patient to the hospital...) the PUBLIC cry out and contact their representatives. This causes a huge knee-jerk reaction which gains traction (majorly) and in turn causes more regulations. When the PUBLIC complain the GOVERNMENT goes into action (over re-action really) and this is how we ALL suffer because of a few bad apples.

We are well beyond the point of getting that horse back into the stable now. Way too many incidents and way too much "ATTENTION" has been put on our industry. It's like trying to put the smoke back inside an electronic device that has "smoked". Once it's out its going to stay OUT!

 

[mavic3usa]

What you aren't seeming to understand is that when a UAS/Drone does something to get the Public's Attention (let's say for instance, delaying a MediVac Helicopter from carrying a seriously injured patient to the hospital...) the PUBLIC cry out and contact their representatives. This causes a huge knee-jerk reaction which gains traction (majorly) and in turn causes more regulations. When the PUBLIC complain the GOVERNMENT goes into action (over re-action really) and this is how we ALL suffer because of a few bad apples.

We are well beyond the point of getting that horse back into the stable now. Way too many incidents and way too much "ATTENTION" has been put on our industry. It's like trying to put the smoke back inside an electronic device that has "smoked". Once it's out its going to stay OUT!

Understood but I'm not yet ready to give up and throw in the towel. Lots of stuff goes thru this demonization process and make it thru the other side reasonably intact. Drones are not unique in this aspect. But only if we keep up the good fight which is what I am trying to do, respectfully. It's not easy.

 

[mavic3usa]

Hardly insignificant nor negligible though. But keep going....

Got any answers? Do you have any solutions to the problems?

BTW, the overall numbers are insignificant. The actual incidents and injury are very important.

 

[Torque]

Got any answers? Do you have any solutions to the problems?

BTW, the overall numbers are insignificant. The actual incidents and injury are very important.

None that I'd care to argue here, thank you.

 

[mavic3usa]

None that I'd care to argue here, thank you.

Sure no problem. When it comes to posting the injuries and destruction caused by drones, the posts come fast and furious and decisive. When it comes to solutions and answers, I'm left standing here alone. Happens alot.

 

[Torque]

I'm left standing here alone. Happens alot.

No doubt.