Just how dangerous is a Drone

[JDawg]

Or we could learn about the other incredible creatures we share this planet with choose not to fear them and do stuff like this with the knowledge gained?
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She's an idiot.

 

[lmel2005]

The POSSIBILITY increases with every flier with this kind of mindset,
The drone isn't the danger it's the drone pilot who ignores the POSSIBILITY just because they want to make a name for themselves on YouTube. It's the drone pilot who ignores the no fly zones and regs because he or she doesn't think.

No fly zones are already regulated.
It's an authorities job to enforce the law.

Even if the possibility study, takes into account the violations, there's almost zero possibility for a person to be killed by a drone.

 

[Nosebump]

Physics is fun to tinker with in the abstract, however we fly in a very real world. I always treat a drone like it's a loaded weapon, and give it that kind of respect. It's a mindset thing. Let me attach a picture of what can happen when a drone is flown with negligence. The boys flying said that "it just got away from us". We can't allow this to happen.

 

[G Pilot]

So I just saw a post that really got a good bit of smoke coming out of my ears,
It was along the lines of how could a little 1.5/ 2 pound drone be dangerous
Here is a great little calculater that can help you find out just how hard your drone can impact an object
ENERGY CALCULATOR
Select the energy button then on the right side of the entry fields you can select the unit type.
To give you a reference point a baseball traveling at 95 MPH will impact an object at about 80 foot pounds of energy,
A 2 pound drone traveling at 30mph will impact an object with 60 foot pounds of energy keep in mind a baseball doesn't have sharp edges, extended legs, whirling props and so on. And that is controlled flight.
What about free fall terminal velocity is 122 MPH now I'm not saying the drone will reach those speeds at a free fall (dead stick) but let's say it can reach 75 mph on a dead stick free fall that means it will impact with over 350 foot pounds of energy (378 fpe)
A 357 caliber pistol shooting a 200 grain slug at 900fps produces 350 foot pounds of energy
Please I beg you NEVER underestimate the power and danger of these devices

 

[raymo]

Everything that goes up in the air has the potential to fall back to the ground if something goes wrong, drones included. Yes, if a drone dropped from 400ft straight onto my melon, I wouldn't be too happy about that!

The reality is, since drones as we know them have been around, there has not been one single death or even life threatening injury caused by a drone. Millions of flights, no deaths. That's a pretty impressive safety record in my book.

So NASA does a review of these studies. I love NASA. Don't get me wrong. But NASA could only hope for such a safety record, in spite of volumes of safety manuals attempting to cover every possible scenario. But over the years, they, at least in some cases, just did not use common sense. The loss of Grissom and colleagues being a case in point. Almost any chemist worth his salt would have told you "Don't put anything oxidizable in a pure oxygen atmosphere!" Flying UAVs, like flying anything, even abiding by all the rules, still requires a level of common sense that can prevent problems from occurring. Most problems occur when we let our guard down.

 

[raymo]

Be careful when walking outside of your house, because the energy of a falling marble or a falling piece of glass, is lethal.

If someone wants to measure real danger of drone usage, he should take in account the POSSIBILITY of such an accident, and the results of real accidents that have happened.

Until now, drones are NOT a threat.

For all the UAVs that have been sold, by the millions, it is unbelievable how rare it is to even see any others flying outdoors, except when you are with someone intentionally flying one as well. Over a period of 5 years, since I got into it, I might have seen 2 additional UAVs actually in the air while travelling locally and around the world. About the only place I see UAVs is on YouTube

 

[Willie14228]

Your correct but did you know the same applies to the ratio of commercial trucks and accidents yet every time that one percent of dangerous operators does something stupid the 99% of the rest is lumped in with them
Same applies here

 

[Meta4]

yet every time that one percent of dangerous operators does something stupid the 99% of the rest is lumped in with them

That's a very naive reasoning. I don't believe that happens at all.

 

[mikelberry]

Okay, after all that speculation, argument and fact finding, regarding how dangerous a drone may or may not be. Here's the real question, outside of some idiot flying his drone directly in the glide path of a landing (or launching) passenger plane, what are the odds of there being a critical (fatal?) impact between a quadcopter and a manned aircraft? The odds may be getting better as time goes. But, I would imagine that before it becomes a real danger, controls will be in place to minimize that risk.
Whist in the lowlands near the Black Hills of SD, I flew my drones over 500 ft above ground level on a regular basis. Nary a plane in the sky. I also have more than one app on my phone that can alert me to restricted airspace and whom to contact, to gain authorization to fly in those places, should I feel it necessary to my mission.

 

[mikelberry]

That's a very naive reasoning. I don't believe that happens at all.

The media have ways of inflaming public opinion. However, the politics of the new world are just like the politics of old, driven by money. The public at large may be placed at risk, if the economics of the 'one percenters' depend on the growth of the industry beyond the safety of the technology.

 

[Willie14228]

That's a very naive reasoning. I don't believe that happens at all.

Meta it's not naive at all, it's experience

 

[TheRock]

My friend took his nose off while trying to hand catch at sea and the boat shifted in a small swell. Surgery and some skin from under his armpit restored the nose. They are extremely dangerous and should be greatly respected and handled with extreme care and forethought.

 

[mikelberry]

Everything that goes up in the air has the potential to fall back to the ground if something goes wrong, drones included. Yes, if a drone dropped from 400ft straight onto my melon, I wouldn't be too happy about that!

The reality is, since drones as we know them have been around, there has not been one single death or even life threatening injury caused by a drone. Millions of flights, no deaths. That's a pretty impressive safety record in my book.

Agreed. Millions of drones in the air and not even one report of a life threatening injury. I did see a guy get his hand lacerated pretty badly by his own drone, because he was stupid enough to try and stop it (going full speed) bare handed. But, no concussions, no exsanguinations, no permanently debilitating head injuries, no missing limbs, no blinding eye injuries. I've been flying drones of all types, toy, model, hobby, pro and racing, for years now. Never witnessed a single medical emergency resulting from a drone-human contact.

 

[mikelberry]

My friend took his nose off while trying to hand catch at sea and the boat shifted in a small swell. Surgery and some skin from under his armpit restored the nose. They are extremely dangerous and should be greatly respected and handled with extreme care and forethought.

So, your friend was trying to hand catch a drone, while on a moving boat, rolling on swells. It sounds like your friend was really playing Russian Roulette with too many bullets in the gun. He had really stacked the odds against himself.

 

[sar104]

Agreed. Millions of drones in the air and not even one report of a life threatening injury. I did see a guy get his hand lacerated pretty badly by his own drone, because he was stupid enough to try and stop it (going full speed) bare handed. But, no concussions, no exsanguinations, no permanently debilitating head injuries, no missing limbs, no blinding eye injuries. I've been flying drones of all types, toy, model, hobby, pro and racing, for years now. Never witnessed a single medical emergency resulting from a drone-human contact.

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

 

[mikelberry]

It would still injure or kill if it fell on your head from a height!!

It might hurt you, give you a lump and a laceration. But, terminal velocity of a Mavic falling from even hundreds of feet will not be enough to concuss, let alone fracture your skull enough to cause a fatal brain injury.

 

[sar104]

It might hurt you, give you a lump and a laceration. But, terminal velocity of a Mavic falling from even hundreds of feet will not be enough to concuss, let alone fracture your skull enough to cause a fatal brain injury.

Citation?

 

[Meta4]

every time that one percent of dangerous operators does something stupid the 99% of the rest is lumped in with them

Meta it's not naive at all, it's experience

If people really thought most truck drivers are dangerous because they've heard of some cases of trucks being driven dangerously, a lot less people would drive on the roads.

(Some) People drive cars dangerously some of the time.
Would that cause you to automatically conclude that all car drivers are dangerous?
Why should anyone think of drone flyers differently?

 

[mikelberry]

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

New Information Released In Death Of Md. Man Killed In Drone Strike

This one is probably NOT an exaggeration to find a civil lawsuit worth a million or so.

 

[sar104]

New Information Released In Death Of Md. Man Killed In Drone Strike

This one is probably NOT an exaggeration to find a civil lawsuit worth a million or so.

That's fascinating, but how is it relevant to the discussion?