You Would Think Being A Drone Pilot Is A Pretty Safe Job Because You’re Not Actually Flying In The Airplane, But This May Not Be The Case

Drone flying may be on the fringes of AeroSports, but it is becoming a popular variation on remote control model airplanes. We can thank a guy by the name of Lawrence Sperry for coming up with the concept of drones during the days of World War I, and I bet he would be amazed by what’s going on now.

As the progress of remotely controlled aircraft continued through the years, the one thing everyone recognized as a plus factor was that the pilot remained safely on the ground. However, in a story we recently found on arstecnica.com, it may not be as safe as you would think.

It appears a young Connecticut man was flying a small vertical lift drone equipped with a video camera along the beach, and a woman took issue with his operation. She reportedly called for the police to stop the activity but became frustrated when they hadn’t arrived. She allegedly took matters into her own hands and accosted the young man who was piloting the drone.

The police finally arrived en masse and initially approached the young man as the perpetrator of a transgression. Unbeknownst to the perturbed woman, during the altercation that occurred the young man was holding his cell phone and was video recording all that was going on. The video, now popular on YouTube, clearly showed that the drone pilot was trying to avoid the altercation while the woman assaulted him. According to the report, the woman was charged with assault and breach of peace, and the drone pilot was advised that it appeared he had done nothing wrong.

It looks like we have 2 pretty good lessons being taught in this report: 1. If you are going to fly a drone in a public place, be prepared for someone to object. 2. If you’re going to assault someone, make sure they are not making a video recording of the assault.

Here’s a short history lesson that recreational drone pilots might want to consider. In the very early days of manned balloon flight, balloon pilots commonly carried a bottle of wine or champagne. The reason for this was that landings often occurred in farmer's fields leading to an unhappy farmer. The champagne or wine could then be used as a token of goodwill by the pilot to sooth the farmers frayed nerves. Maybe recreational drone flyers need to work on their image. Remote control aircraft flight safety is addressed on the Academy of Model Aeronautics website.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.modelaircraft.org