Drone vs. Paraglider: NZ Court conviction

[DavidT_ NZ]

Readers may be interested in this New Zealand Court decision - which certainly appears to be justified. Not the way to fly any drone.
Stay safe ????

Landmark conviction after near-deadly crash between drone and paraglider

Judge says it was "sheer luck" there wasn't a death.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[lannes]

Just thinking why the drone pilot would get so close as to cause a collision.
They were lucky as they deserve a bigger penalty.

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Just thinking why the drone pilot would get so close as to cause a collision.
They were lucky as they deserve a bigger penalty.

Reading the article the judge referred to the drone pilot being too reliant on the view in his app screen and not watching the drone in the sky. It is the classic issue and I saw it again recently with Mr $182K sitting in his car to stay warm whilst flying his drone across some rooftops, claiming to be able to see his drone. No mention of the surrounding airspace which could, for example, easily have contained another drone as another known pilot lives nearby. In this instance, however, the hazard was a paraglider. At what stage does common sense fly out the window (along with the drone!)? It’s not brain surgery to work it out. Cheers ????

 

[Gagey52]

With so many people flying BVLOS it a wonder that it doesn't happen more often.
Regards

 

[Scubadiver1944]

Well done Judge Mona Wharepouri! Hope this might be a salutary lesson to any other drone flying "cowboys" who think it's their right to play fast & loose with other people's lives by their ignoring of the drone code.

Readers may be interested in this New Zealand Court decision - which certainly appears to be justified. Not the way to fly any drone.
Stay safe [emoji106][emoji41][emoji1181]

Landmark conviction after near-deadly crash between drone and paraglider

Judge says it was "sheer luck" there wasn't a death.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[Scubadiver1944]

Yep, I saw his same YouTube post awhile back. Does he ever learn?

Reading the article the judge referred to the drone pilot being too reliant on the view in his app screen and not watching the drone in the sky. It is the classic issue and I saw it again recently with Mr $182K sitting in his car to stay warm whilst flying his drone across some rooftops, claiming to be able to see his drone. No mention of the surrounding airspace which could, for example, easily have contained another drone as another known pilot lives nearby. In this instance, however, the hazard was a paraglider. At what stage does common sense fly out the window (along with the drone!)? It’s not brain surgery to work it out. Cheers [emoji106][emoji41][emoji1181]

 

[BigAl07]

I'm glad no one was injured in this. It has BAD written all over it. Hopefully many of our colleagues who mistakenly think/preach "I have been situational awareness watching the view device than I do looking AT the aircraft". So WRONG on so many levels.

I'm surprised other Media Outlets (around the world) haven't picked up on this and ran it into the ground because we all know the word DRONE sells ads and newspapers.

Are there any videos or more information readily available about the incident itself? Would be awesome if he had been recording at the time of impact.

 

[AnzacJack]

It is reported in Australian Aviation

NZ drone pilot convicted after collision with paraglider

According to court documents, the DJI Phantom 3 drone collided with the paraglider and became entangled in one of its brake lines, making steering difficult.

australianaviation.com.au

but not much more info

Pilots need to be aware that we are not alone in the sky and we need to be responsible. We are generally the most agile and responsible to get out of the way. Many a morning i have abandoned coastal flying because of kite surfers. Its just not a predictable, safe place to fly.

 

[eaglesurfing]

The news cycle is looking really hard for "filler" material so you're right BigA107 about the word "drone" being a point of interest.

 

[Repaid1]

It is reported in Australian Aviation
<Snip>

Pilots need to be aware that we are not alone in the sky and we need to be responsible. We are generally the most agile and responsible to get out of the way. Many a morning i have abandoned coastal flying because of kite surfers. Its just not a predictable, safe place to fly.

In this situation it seems to me there seems to be a couple of issues at play. I would be hard pressed not to believe that this "Drone" flier didn't know that these flights took place in the area he was trying to fly. In fact given that this para glider was a novice pilot I would imagine that it was a routine hourly if not more occurrence within a certain time frame at least.

Of course speculation, but many such flights probably were ongoing though the day with various flights from others. Knowing this, a operational glance skyward and a 360° survey would have told him that a incoming aircraft was due at such and such time...I mean I don't know launch point and glide and such but after a few flights it wouldn't be hard to determine a window if available.

Given that this collision took place at such a described elevation, it is hard to factor who was doing what. Did the drone pilot take all I mentioned above and choose a elevation that should have had separation from all previous flights he had witnessed? Going that it is a pretty good chance that the Glider flew into the drone and not the other way around as reported.

The whole thing is a wash anyway given circumstance, but one could easily see many issues that could have come into play. It doesn't dismiss the outcome and what happened, but "we" don't know the actual particulars. We have to place blame to the Drone as they must yield. The whole thing just seems to me a bit sensationalized, much like most media stories I guess...anyway.. I just feel the "Death card" has been played all to much in such incidents and now it's down to hang gliders.. I bet old Bruce will have this one on his channel soon.

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

I'm glad no one was injured in this. It has BAD written all over it. Hopefully many of our colleagues who mistakenly think/preach "I have been situational awareness watching the view device than I do looking AT the aircraft". So WRONG on so many levels.

I'm surprised other Media Outlets (around the world) haven't picked up on this and ran it into the ground because we all know the word DRONE sells ads and newspapers.

Are there any videos or more information readily available about the incident itself? Would be awesome if he had been recording at the time of impact.

The way the Judge commented, it was a lucky escape, albeit reported probably by the shocked paraglider who would not have been thinking about photography at the time! And the drone guy would have been horrified, no doubt, and not keen to publicise anything that he may have filmed! ????

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

In this situation it seems to me there seems to be a couple of issues at play. I would be hard pressed not to believe that this "Drone" flier didn't know that these flights took place in the area he was trying to fly. In fact given that this para glider was a novice pilot I would imagine that it was a routine hourly if not more occurrence within a certain time frame at least.

Of course speculation, but many such flights probably were ongoing though the day with various flights from others. Knowing this, a operational glance skyward and a 360° survey would have told him that a incoming aircraft was due at such and such time...I mean I don't know launch point and glide and such but after a few flights it wouldn't be hard to determine a window if available.

Given that this collision took place at such a described elevation, it is hard to factor who was doing what. Did the drone pilot take all I mentioned above and choose a elevation that should have had separation from all previous flights he had witnessed? Going that it is a pretty good chance that the Glider flew into the drone and not the other way around as reported.

The whole thing is a wash anyway given circumstance, but one could easily see many issues that could have come into play. It doesn't dismiss the outcome and what happened, but "we" don't know the actual particulars. We have to place blame to the Drone as they must yield. The whole thing just seems to me a bit sensationalized, much like most media stories I guess...anyway.. I just feel the "Death card" has been played all to much in such incidents and now it's down to hang gliders.. I bet old Bruce will have this one on his channel soon.

Just one question to ask yourself: if you were the paraglider out for a leisurely fly on the air currents in a clear open sky in an area where such activities might be common, but certainly clearly visible, and some idiot with a powered drone that was capable of cutting your control cords flew into you, would you buy him a beer at the bar after you were discharged from the hospital ..... if you were lucky enough to survive the fall? I don’t need to read between the lines. Nor do I think the issue is sensationalised. Your comment is typical from “the deniers”. And it just perpetuates the meaning of the word “dumb” when drone pilots reveal that attitude. Watch the whole sky and watch the drone. And don’t rely on the screen view. Simple. ?