My Mavic Was Shot Out of the Sky

[sprtbkrydr]

Let it be a good $1000 lesson.

 

[DomoDan]

Did the police or the FAA end up doing anything?

 

[royster]

The little Mavic was trying pretty hard to land, sturdy little buggers, eh!
You did linger a bit to long, but, still, no excuse for shooting at a drone.
If I read the whole story correctly, this "property" or is it a dump site, was no longer classed as a residence, people were basicly squatting, living in the barns, etc.
Bottom line- It looks like this guy is going to get away with shooting down a drone!

 

[theAlexanderGraham]

Wow. The guy's going to get away with shooting down a drone because this video plays directly into the hands of the fear mongering people that claim drones are spying on people.

You can clearly see the guy throwing rocks, and motioning his hands signaling you to come closer. As far as he's concerned you're taunting him.

Yeah, Yeah, nobody own's the airspace and so on, but if you can make out objects in a persons hands from your current altitude, you're probably too low.

 

[Turnerm]

My take on it, The guy should not have shot the Mavic down. HOWEVER.......This kind of flying behavior is why people do not like Drones. If the pilot had done a fly over and the landowner took a shot and got lucky, big issue. But clearly he hovered over this guys property with the full intent of looking at it. He saw the guy, he saw him throw rocks or whatever at it. Should have just flown away

I say both were wrong and both should just move on.

My thoughts exactly. Both were wrong.

If I'd seen the guy waving his arms in obvious frustration at the drone and then start throwing rocks at it I would've definitely moved on.

 

[newnan3]

It appears to me majority of the flight was around 30-40 feet...

 

[Aerial Perceptions]

Yeah, I don't know about this. If I did something like this, I'd expect something bad to happen. I'm not going to fly over someone's property like that expecting them to know the consequences of shooting a drone down.

With that being said, sorry for your loss. Hopefully your YouTube video will go viral and you can make some money off of it to replace your Mavic.

 

[Stuart Wood]

Let it be a good $1000 lesson.

And what's the lesson for the guy shooting at other people's property? Don't see any damage on that end!

 

[reckless]

Since I wasn't there I can't pass judgement on the drone operator however I will offer some tips to avoid this type of situation regardless of who is right or wrong:

1. Don't fly so low as to become an easy target for fools.
2. The Mavic has a zoom feature, use it or shoot in higher resolution and digitally zoom-in while maintaining a higher altitude like thus:
   
3. Avoid lingering or hovering in one place for any extended period.
4. Once you have to footage get out of there quickly using sport mode.

As for legal action, I wouldn't base any legal proceedings on the footage as it isn't clear enough to be conclusive one way or the other. Sure the hillbilly can be seen pumping something, could have been inflating a bicycle tire or having a w**k. I could not clearly see a rifle being pointed at the drone. BTW - I downloaded the youtube footage(720p only) and digitally zoomed in.

I would also like to say I am disappointed by the way so many members go for the jugular when they were not there and base their outrage and indignation on bouncy bumpy grainy poor quality footage which appears to be within legal guidelines but questionable moral standards. The OP may have genuinely thought the garbage dump was deserted and the hillbilly might have genuine cause to be edgy after the events unfolded. We were not there and should not be so quick to judge but learn a collective lesson from this one amazing incident.

Chill people

 

[sprtbkrydr]

And what's the lesson for the guy shooting at other people's property? Don't see any damage on that end!

Maybe there shouldn't be any as it's very clear whos at fault here. Should have left the man alone and minded his own business.

 

[Knight Hawk]

Since I wasn't there I can't pass judgement on the drone operator however I will offer some tips to avoid this type of situation regardless of who is right or wrong:

1. Don't fly so low as to become an easy target for fools.
2. The Mavic has a zoom feature, use it or shoot in higher resolution and digitally zoom-in while maintaining a higher altitude like thus:
   
3. Avoid lingering or hovering in one place for any extended period.
4. Once you have to footage get out of there quickly using sport mode.

As for legal action, I wouldn't base any legal proceedings on the footage as it isn't clear enough to be conclusive one way or the other. Sure the hillbilly can be seen pumping something, could have been inflating a bicycle tire or having a w**k. I could not clearly see a rifle being pointed at the drone. BTW - I downloaded the youtube footage(720p only) and digitally zoomed in.

I would also like to say I am disappointed by the way so many members go for the jugular when they were not there and base their outrage and indignation on bouncy bumpy grainy poor quality footage which appears to be within legal guidelines but questionable moral standards. The OP may have genuinely thought the garbage dump was deserted and the hillbilly might have genuine cause to be edgy after the events unfolded. We were not there and should not be so quick to judge but learn a collective lesson from this one amazing incident.

Chill people

Amen brother...

 

[Stuart Wood]

Maybe there shouldn't be any as it's very clear whos at fault here. Should have left the man alone and minded his own business.

In your opinion! Could just as easily say the neighbor should have walked around to the MP owners house and asked to cease and desist and avoided a lot of bad feelings and damage. Seems like a more reasonable response.

 

[sprtbkrydr]

In your opinion! Could just as easily say the neighbor should have walked around to the MP owners house and asked to cease and desist and avoided a lot of bad feelings and damage. Seems like a more reasonable response.

Yep that's my opinion.

 

[Turnerm]

In your opinion! Could just as easily say the neighbor should have walked around to the MP owners house and asked to cease and desist and avoided a lot of bad feelings and damage. Seems like a more reasonable response.

I think he made his cease and desist clear when he started throwing rocks.

 

[erkme73]

Like I said he could have prevented this by just going on away from the guys place. That's all I'm done with it.

Let it be a good $1000 lesson.

Maybe there shouldn't be any as it's very clear whos at fault here. Should have left the man alone and minded his own business.

Yep that's my opinion.

Why does this make me think of that famous Thumper quote... "If you don't have anything nice to say...", and the little boy who cried wolf?

What a great way to promote participation in the forums. Wouldn't it be better to keep these thoughts to yourself (or send them via PM) than to discourage others from posting their experiences?

 

[Boog0822]

I don't see him pumping the gun at 2:32
Where is he? I'm missing him for some reason...

 

[reckless]

I don't see him pumping the gun at 2:32
Where is he? I'm missing him for some reason...

Allegedly pumping a gun...

 

[sprtbkrydr]

Why does this make me think of that famous Thumper quote... "If you don't have anything nice to say...", and the little boy who cried wolf?

What a great way to promote participation in the forums. Wouldn't it be better to keep these thoughts to yourself (or send them via PM) than to discourage others from posting their experiences?

I have just as much right to voice my opinion here as you do. All I was saying is the guy brought all of this on to himself by his own actions.

 

[Stuart Wood]

I have just as much right to voice my opinion here as you do. All I was saying is the guy brought all of this on to himself by his own actions.

And others disagree, as is their right!

 

[Mr. Salty]

And others disagree, as is their right!

And others agree with sprtbkrydr.

This is a case where the OP was probably legally in the right but he's still out a Mavic Pro because he provoked a confrontation by invading someone's privacy.

What, exactly, was the point of the flight? To show that some dude was keeping his property in deplorable condition? What was accomplished by flying over the property for several minutes that couldn't have been accomplished in a few seconds? Fly over, get some video, maybe a still photo or two and be done with it.