Aircraft Being Flown In The Restaurant Hits Photog In The Nose

Well ... it seemed like a good idea. The restaurant chain TGI Friday's decided that it would use a small hexacopter to fly mistletoe around some of its restaurants and hope to encourage kissing in the booths and at the tables. But in at least one case, the UAV went astray and hit a photographer capturing the stunt.

The incident occurred at the chain's Sheepshead Bay, NY location, according to a report in the Brooklyn Daily. The person flying the aircraft apparently lost control and it hit Courier photographer Georgine Benvenuto in the nose with one of its unprotected rotors.

Benvenuto said the rotor "chipped off a tip of my nose." But the UAV's operator said the photographer was at least in part to blame for the accident, which he said had never happened before. David Quiones, the aircraft's operator, said he suggested Benvenuto should let him land the aircraft on her hand ... but she flinched when it touched her, and she basically caused it to fly into her face. Benvenuto said Quiones was to blame because he was controlling the aircraft.

TGI Friday's said that it conducted similar events in locations in New York and Texas with no injuries. People normally stay away from the blades of the 'copters, spokeswoman Frances Karkosak said.

Quiones, meanwhile, told the paper that the incident is not likely to spell the end of Mobile Mistletoe at the chain. He said people already know, and are unconcerned by, the risks involved with the stunt.

(Image from file. Not Mobile Mistletoe aircraft)

FMI: www.tgifridays.com