I hit a power line with my Air 3S!

[Puppy59]

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Flying my Air 3S trying to get a rotation shot of a multi storey car park that's under construction. I could see the cables and I thought I'd cleared them, but didn't realise that the were running diagonally, so when I started my move to the right, I could see I was in amongst the cables, so I panicked tried to go up, and hit one of them.
Only damage was a crack in one prop... lesson learned, avoid power cables

 

[Droning on and on...]

Very lucky!

 

[Puppy59]

Extremely, thought the drone was a goner!

 

[mavic3usa]

Glad everything worked out, don't want to turn off the lights in the region.

So I gotta ask, what is the reason for wanting to fly so low? Once I see there are power lines in the area, I go above them and I make them my minimum....period. Is there a reason why you need to fly that low even away from the power lines? I'm not seeing anything in the area that needs your drone to be close up to. Unless you're flying an FPV drone.....

 

[Puppy59]

I flew over the car park a few months ago, and just wanted to check how the construction was progressing. Last time I flew around the other side, so I wanted to fly around this side.
I won't make that mistake again... I mean fly near any power lines!

 

[Daniel Mclean]

Extremely lucky!

 

[Puppy59]

Cheers, I know I am a lucky boy! I posted this to point out my stupidity, and hopefully prevent someone from making the same mistake!

 

[Cafguy]

Yes you need to stay well clear of power lines! If you fly within 200 feet of them you risk electronic interference and possible damage. More importanly the FAA considers contact with a powerline as " careless and reckless operation of an aircraft" and if you would have caused an incident you could have been fined. Glad everything worked out for you. My neighbor did the same thing and the line ripped the camera off. when the drone hit the ground it pretty much shattered.
Plan your flights carefully! Especially the part 107 ones.
P.S. I used to loop my mini whoops around power lines, I fried 6 of them, Each from contacting the line!
You contacted the shield wire on top( it looks like) so no problem, that ones there to dissipate lightning, and has no juice.

 

[AMann]

Remember the member a few years ago who hit a high tension power line with his Mavic and it got stuck up there by the front arms? Saddest site ever as there was no way for him to retrieve it and it looked like a dead bird hanging there.

I almost hit the top wire of an old barb wire fence once- I was flying really low over an abandoned farm skimming right over a field of wild oats and went right under it. Didn’t notice it until I watched the video at home!

 

[Bad Santa]

You got lucky the drone didn't shut down.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Yes you need to stay well clear of power lines! If you fly within 200 feet of them you risk electronic interference and possible damage. More importanly the FAA considers contact with a powerline as " careless and reckless operation of an aircraft" and if you would have caused an incident you could have been fined. Glad everything worked out for you. My neighbor did the same thing and the line ripped the camera off. when the drone hit the ground it pretty much shattered.
Plan your flights carefully! Especially the part 107 ones.
P.S. I used to loop my mini whoops around power lines, I fried 6 of them, Each from contacting the line!
You contacted the shield wire on top( it looks like) so no problem, that ones there to dissipate lightning, and has no juice.

In the UK - maintenance teams working on or near live HT power lines are trained not to approach any closer than 27'... in the right(?) conditions: that's how far the current can arc from one of the load bearing cables. You also find that in certain weather conditions there can occur plasma discharge (St. Elmo's fire) around the insulators, something that plays Hob with RF signals.

 

[GadgetGuy]

You flew over them, and then descended, and then backed right into them while orbiting to the right. I didn't see any diagonal power lines, and even if there were, they were within the very lines you had flown over. Use your OA cameras when backing up like that, to verify the lines are not anywhere near your drone.

 

[Cafguy]

I stopped playing with my whoops near power lines after a PG&E rep. walked up to me and told me I would be reported to the FAA if I didnt stop doing it!...so I no longer go near them! It was a dumb idea on my part but the whoops only weigh in at 40 grams so I didnt think there was any harm. Don't loop your lines at home folks...

 

[a2tomm]

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Flying my Air 3S trying to get a rotation shot of a multi storey car park that's under construction. I could see the cables and I thought I'd cleared them, but didn't realise that the were running diagonally, so when I started my move to the right, I could see I was in amongst the cables, so I panicked tried to go up, and hit one of them.
Only damage was a crack in one prop... lesson learned, avoid power cables

lucky lucky man ,I was running from a big water bird and hit power lines over the water next to a bridge ,but it then fell into a 30 foot deep channel

 

[careless]

I did the same thing years ago with a Phantom 4 and the power line took out my GPS and the drone flew out of control for over half a mile before crashing to the ground in a cemetery.

 

[orionshooter]

And the Irish think they’re lucky. They got nothing on this lad!

 

[hank970]

Yes you need to stay well clear of power lines! If you fly within 200 feet of them you risk electronic interference and possible damage. More importanly the FAA considers contact with a powerline as " careless and reckless operation of an aircraft" and if you would have caused an incident you could have been fined. Glad everything worked out for you. My neighbor did the same thing and the line ripped the camera off. when the drone hit the ground it pretty much shattered.
Plan your flights carefully! Especially the part 107 ones.
P.S. I used to loop my mini whoops around power lines, I fried 6 of them, Each from contacting the line!
You contacted the shield wire on top( it looks like) so no problem, that ones there to dissipate lightning, and has no juice.

That's probably good advice unless, of course, you have a Part 107 license and have been hired to inspect transmission lines or, like me, are a recreational pilot who's interested in getting photos of powerline support structures from a unique perspective.

Can you a cite an authoritative source for your contention that flying within 200 feet of powerlines will disrupt flight?

 

[Puppy59]

Thanks for all your replies. I admit it was an act of gross stupidity, never to be repeated!

lucky lucky man ,I was running from a big water bird and hit power lines over the water next to a bridge ,but it then fell into a 30 foot deep channel

Really unlucky!

 

[Puppy59]

I did the same thing years ago with a Phantom 4 and the power line took out my GPS and the drone flew out of control for over half a mile before crashing to the ground in a cemetery.

How apt, ending up in a cemetery!

 

[Cafguy]

At 200 ft you will not damage your electronics but it is risky! I have flown within them with no problems, until I touched the wire with the Drone..
200' is what the power companies consider safe, so I will go with that distance. PG&E recommends 200' from the lines horizontally and 30' vertically. they also ask that you stay 50' from their buildings. but as long as you are not standing on their right of way or causing damage theres not much they can do (except call the authorities on you if you FPV around them!).