Drone stuck on a Swiss waterfall

dotdavid · Tuesday at 12:15 PM

Hi, registered here as I can see you have some Swiss members.

My family and I are currently on holiday in Switzerland with my wife's new DJI Flip drone which she wanted to use to photograph the beautiful scenery here. Unfortunately idiot that I am I managed to crash said drone on its maiden flight. It is currently stuck upside down, somehow, on a flat rock at the top of the Schwarzenbach Wasserfall near Zug.

We had a go retrieving it a lot of ways but it's far too high up for that and the top of the waterfall isn't very accessible either. We even spent some time today buying a bunch of bamboo canes and duct tape and rigging up a really long pole with a fishing hook on the end, but couldn't snag it.

Anyway I don't know why I'm posting this because I am pretty much resigned to having to buy a new one now, fortunately had a bit of money saved so ordered another one for collection here. The existing drone is properly labelled with my wife's operator details for switzerland. I guess if any of you local guys have one of those drone retrieval cannons, are good at canyoning, or are handy with a fishing rod you might be able to get a drone before the next rainfall washes it downstream.

mavic3usa · Tuesday at 12:32 PM

Sorry that happened to you but I guess it's better than falling directly into the waterfall. I cannot tell from the what I see in the photo about the surroundings but it appears that drone should be possible to retrieve perhaps you can ask around and get some help. I'm saying this because it would be unfortunate to leave that drone perched atop the waterfall for others to see and may even lead to no-drone signs. My opinion.

dotdavid · Tuesday at 12:40 PM

I think the Swiss authorities will be happier not to have to rescue a dumb tourist with a broken leg to be honest. We spent a couple of hours yesterday and a further couple of hours today attempting to retrieve it.

The attached photo shows where the drone is and where we tried to retrieve it from using a really long pole, but the scale is not obvious from the photo - our pole was about 12m long in the end. It's quite high. The river upstream from the waterfall has really steep sides. Without a ladder or ropes or something (which I unfortunately do not take on holiday with me) I don't think it's possible to retrieve but may be quite simple for someone local with the right equipment.

hansenn · Tuesday at 12:51 PM

A good climber can reach it. Maybe contact some local climbing club?

dotdavid · Tuesday at 12:52 PM

I will have a search and see if I can find one

hansenn · Tuesday at 1:18 PM

dotdavid said:
I will have a search and see if I can find one

SAC Rossberg

www.sac-zug.ch

dotdavid · Tuesday at 1:57 PM

hansenn said:
SAC Rossberg

www.sac-zug.ch

Thanks, I'll get in touch with them

dotdavid · Tuesday at 5:26 PM

Thanks everyone for your help. Someone from SAC will go and have a look to see if they can get the drone, and I'm quite optimistic that it will be pretty easy for them so I'm happy now it won't be causing any damage (though less happy that I need to buy a new one for my wife). I will be infinitely more careful in future.

hansenn · Wednesday at 5:10 AM

dotdavid said:
Thanks everyone for your help. Someone from SAC will go and have a look to see if they can get the drone, and I'm quite optimistic that it will be pretty easy for them so I'm happy now it won't be causing any damage (though less happy that I need to buy a new one for my wife). I will be infinitely more careful in future.

keep us informed.

Rchawks · Wednesday at 11:46 AM

Fishing line and pole?

dotdavid · Wednesday at 1:40 PM

Just to let you guys know that Simon from SAC went to the waterfall after work. The banks above the waterfall were no challenge for a member of the Swiss Alpine Club and he got the drone. I will meet him later in the week. Thank you all for your suggestions and comments, without you I think I would have probably been prosecuted by the Swiss Office for Forests and Wildlife as when I contacted them they informed me that flying a drone in a forest is prohibited (though they said on this occasion, as long as the drone was retrieved they would not prosecute). So hopefully mine will be a cautionary tale for others to learn from

hansenn · Wednesday at 2:35 PM

dotdavid said:
Just to let you guys know that Simon from SAC went to the waterfall after work. The banks above the waterfall were no challenge for a member of the Swiss Alpine Club and he got the drone. I will meet him later in the week. Thank you all for your suggestions and comments, without you I think I would have probably been prosecuted by the Swiss Office for Forests and Wildlife as when I contacted them they informed me that flying a drone in a forest is prohibited (though they said on this occasion, as long as the drone was retrieved they would not prosecute). So hopefully mine will be a cautionary tale for others to learn from

good to hear that you(r wife) got the drone back.

Harro · Wednesday at 4:42 PM

She now has two drones!

dotdavid · Wednesday at 5:06 PM

I'm definitely going to have one, assuming the original still works. But I don't mind us having two, it's probably the most hard-won piece of electronic equipment I own now

. She may take the extra battery on trips for greater flight time.

FunYin · 2025-04-12T15:41:44-0400

You are to be commended for even admitting to this, so to speak. I bet there are many in, for example, Yosemite, where it is not even permitted to fly a drone. Keep us posted!
ADDENDUM/EDIT: And, to your point, spare batteries from one of my lost drones did serve useful for another I wound up purchasing.