DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Near miss with helicopter at South Hollywood beach, Florida.

This low life sorry *** excuse for a drone pilot needs to be fried by the FAA and every other law enforcement.... This is his youtube channel.. let him know he is a piece of crap!!

MasihPersian
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: ksmusa
What's odd about that footage and the analysis was no mention of wake turbulence. You could argue that the drone wouldn't get sucked through the rotors, but the turbulence created by a close pass at speed would have jostled the craft and camera a bit, particularly considering they believe the pass to have occurred at 3 meters. Seemed pretty rock steady. Could be meaningless but interesting nonetheless.
 
What's odd about that footage and the analysis was no mention of wake turbulence. You could argue that the drone wouldn't get sucked through the rotors, but the turbulence created by a close pass at speed would have jostled the craft and camera a bit, particularly considering they believe the pass to have occurred at 3 meters. Seemed pretty rock steady. Could be meaningless but interesting nonetheless.

I'm wondering this myself. I'm wondering almost if its fake only because I haven't found any news outlet reporting on this. But the shadows and everything seem to be accurate. but you'd think if it was a mavic or something it would have been pushed around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kevinc69
I think it gets discussed in the video about the turbulence, and that is why it doesnt seem to affect the drone at the point that it is passing. I think we must also remember, even if the Mavic might have been affected by any turbulence, the gimbal would try to stay in place. Just my 2 cents.
 
Just thinking myself what would happens if the helicopter pilot decide to go up while the drone is basically right there in front of them.
 
I work at WSVN in Miami and this looks like our competitions (ch.s 4&10) helicopter. I will ask our pilot if there was any mention of this. Both our helicopter and theirs share the same hanger. The coloring looks right. Ours is blue and red. They have changed helicopters in the last few years and the old one was blue also. I will post my findings in a few days.

Just looked at WPLGs website, looks like it's the real thing.
FAA investigates near drone-helicopter collision off Hollywood
 
Last edited:
This low life sorry *** excuse for a drone pilot needs to be fried by the FAA and every other law enforcement.... This is his youtube channel.. let him know he is a piece of crap!!

MasihPersian
Pitchforks and torches to the ready, rally the lynch mob, incite the docile masses to tear him down, destroy everything he has.....God bless SRJ_Mavic_PRO, God bless the internet [emoji846]
 
Why does the drone pilot need to be fried? If he was below 400' and within Los... Is it possible the helicopter was flying in the drones airspace rather than the other way around?

The drone has no airspace - US law requires that UAVs must yield to manned aircraft at all times:

14 CFR 101.41

(d) The aircraft is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft;​

That's the reason for the VLOS recommendation - so that the pilot is close enough to the drone to see/hear approaching aircraft and take appropriate evasive action. If he is thousands of feet away, as in this case, he's often not going to be able to do that in time.
 
Last edited:
Why does the drone pilot need to be fried? If he was below 400' and within Los... Is it possible the helicopter was flying in the drones airspace rather than the other way around?

Makes no difference, the drone operator is 100% responsible for maintaining separation from unmanned at *all* times.
Even then on the video he looks high.... Depending on what altimeter the helicopter is using the max drone altitude and minimum manned altitude can easily overlap. The heli could also be operating legally below 500ft depending on mission and flight plan (its carrying a camera pod...).

Generally worldwide the laws are clear - drone driver ALWAYS is responsible for separation. If you don't think you are able to safely comply (ie due to large numbers of low flying aircraft), you don't fly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Flashcot and sar104
I think it's probably going to take a few getting a hefty fine and made famous by the media before hobbyists get the message. Hopefully that happens before someone dies.

I also believe that drone manufacturers are partly to blame here. Just look at their advertising...its like a freakin Pepsi commercial. Anyone can do it...look at all the fun you'll have...all the things you can see...be an instagram and YouTube sensation. Nothing dangerous here and you can fly anywhere.

Then people get their drones and go straight to the quick start up guide virtually ignoring all the warnings in the full user manual as is generally the case for most products.

Then factor in that even most commercial operators have no need for a $40000 drone so how do you make them cheaper? ...Sell millions of them. To anyone. What could possibly go wrong?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Clinton1 and sar104
I kind of agree a lot of the problem now is the drones are too good and too accessible.

Anyone can wander in a shop and emerge 5 mins later with a drone. Most wont even bother reading the manual and just fly it causing all sorts of chaos.

The type of people buying drones isnt really the type of person that should be flying drones.
 
I’m not ready to fry the drone pilot. Let’s assume he was below 400’, within vlos, and not in controlled airspace....

There is only a few seconds from when the helicopter is visible as a tiny speck in the distance until it’s right under the drone.

As a drone pilot, what would you do different? Had he descended there likely would have been a collision.

From my experience, if the wind is blowing it can be difficult to hear a helicopter before it’s right on top of you.

It’s difficult to imagine that the tiny speck in the distance would be at almost your exact altitude and heading straight for you.
 
I’m not ready to fry the drone pilot. Let’s assume he was below 400’, within vlos, and not in controlled airspace....

There is only a few seconds from when the helicopter is visible as a tiny speck in the distance until it’s right under the drone.

As a drone pilot, what would you do different? Had he descended there likely would have been a collision.

From my experience, if the wind is blowing it can be difficult to hear a helicopter before it’s right on top of you.

It’s difficult to imagine that the tiny speck in the distance would be at almost your exact altitude and heading straight for you.

That's the problem relying on FPV. Firstly, you can't hear via FPV. Secondly, you are generally not continually spinning the aircraft to scan the sky. Thirdly, the field of view is so wide-angle that you are likely to get only a couple of seconds warning even if the camera is pointing in the right direction. If he really had been within VLOS, which is only a few hundred feet for a Mavic, then he would have seen and heard the helicopter coming from his location with much more time to take evasive action.
 
I’m not ready to fry the drone pilot. Let’s assume he was below 400’, within vlos, and not in controlled airspace.....

Legally he's fried. Its his responsibility.

Lets look at other factors , is it an area known for large amounts of aircraft traffic at relatively low altitudes? If the answer is yes, the first thing a judge is going to say is "why did you think you could conduct the flight safely in that area whilst avoiding a collision?"

In short, if its a busy area, don't fly there. He's responsible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fried Eagle
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

Forum statistics

Threads
130,589
Messages
1,554,147
Members
159,592
Latest member
MaxRichu