Nearly took fingertip off

Lets Fly · May 4, 2022

R1Mavic said:
Was flying the other night, drone was about 1500ft or so away….it started pouring rain. I was standing in a field. I began to panic thinking the rain was going to ruin my bird.
As it made its way back to me, instead of letting it land in grass….I reached up to grab it and felt the propellers thump my finger. Everything was wet…it was dark. I grabbed my bag and ran over to this lit building at the park to get cover, dry off drone and bag it. Looked down and my finger was pouring blood. It was flowing so fast, I had no napkins or towels. My bag and drone had blood all over it, the concrete, everything. I left the drone there and ran over to my truck for napkins. The blades peeled back a layer of skin right on the tip. I laid it back over and applied pressure. Finally got it to stop.

Here’s the video I went there to make.

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Nice video, but that's why we don't hand catch, it will eventually get you.

Luckyguy9 · May 4, 2022

There are worse ways to lose a fingertip... like with a Vodka bottle but you'd have to ask Johnny Depp & Amber Heard about that!

The best way to treat that is wrap the tip and first joint in yellow Xeroform gauze (petroleum jelly impregnated gauze so it doesn't stick), then tubex gauze or regular gauze for 2 days. Then peel off everything - gently- and reapply every 2 days for a week. Keep it elevated above your heart like on the back of a couch if it's throbbing and get a tetanus shot if longer than 5 years. If there is blood under the fingernail as it appears, thats really painful. You'll need to make a small hole in the nail to let the blood out (at urgent care we do it painlessly) in the first 24 hrs but by now I think it's too late for that.

basyok · May 8, 2022

Funny thing, the first time my skin met a moving prop was with my old Spark when I was trying to fly it with 360 camera attached and doing hand launches and landings - it didn't even cut me or hurt that much, so I assumed that cutting your finger off with your drone isn't a thing. I learned better the 2nd time it happened, and have a nice scar to remind me. I think the Spark was the best beginner drone, for many reasons, but among them was that the props would stop spinning almost instantly when they hit something. Not so with the MA2

D_The_Producer · May 8, 2022

Phantomrain.org said:
There are quite a Few Incidents that cause drone Pilots to Panic and get injured, and getting caught in the Rain is # 1

I remember the first time I got caught in the Rain , and it was a Panic Moment as well.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain Land on the Water and to not Panic.

Smooth!

Donnie Frank · May 9, 2022

R1Mavic said:
Was flying the other night, drone was about 1500ft or so away….it started pouring rain. I was standing in a field. I began to panic thinking the rain was going to ruin my bird.
As it made its way back to me, instead of letting it land in grass….I reached up to grab it and felt the propellers thump my finger. Everything was wet…it was dark. I grabbed my bag and ran over to this lit building at the park to get cover, dry off drone and bag it. Looked down and my finger was pouring blood. It was flowing so fast, I had no napkins or towels. My bag and drone had blood all over it, the concrete, everything. I left the drone there and ran over to my truck for napkins. The blades peeled back a layer of skin right on the tip. I laid it back over and applied pressure. Finally got it to stop.

Here’s the video I went there to make.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

skycam509 · May 9, 2022

Great video! I'm surprised there were no cars. If there were, you could make a cool time-lapse there, too.

mathomas · May 10, 2022

skycam509 said:
Great video! I'm surprised there were no cars. If there were, you could make a cool time-lapse there, too.

I think that is a pedestrian bridge conversion.

LoudThunder · May 16, 2022

Yorkshire_Pud said:
Let it settle into your hand rather than reach up to grab it, it's safer.

I agree with your recommended way, let it settle onto your hand, but so many YouTube Videos show the pilot grabbing the Drone and then flipping it over on its side to shut the motors down.

I did this once just so I know how it's done and I would not do this again unless it was some type of catastrophic accident was about to occur, like possible injuring a by-stander. I had the feeling that treating the Drone this roughly could rip the Gimbal loose.

But as the OP wrote, he started to panic and that when that happens, all caution goes out the window and "animal instinct" cuts in…