Shows A Man Being Carried In A Chair By A Drone For A Fishing Trip

You probably know about drones that will carry fishing lures out to where an angler thinks the fish are biting, but what about one that carries the fisherman?

A video has surfaced in Australia of a man who appears to be being carried under a large, homemade drone over Upper Coliban Reservoir in central Victoria, fishing pole in hand. He drops the bait in the water, catches a fish, and flies back to shore.

The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) reports that the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is investigating the video to see if any of the country's rules were violated by the flight. CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said regardless, the flight was genuinely unsafe. "This is a first for Australia, to have a large homemade drone being used to lift someone off the ground," he said.

"It's really not a sensible thing to do in any way, shape or form; there's lots of things that could have gone wrong, someone could have been seriously injured."

While some believe that Australia's drone certification laws are lax, Gibson says that safety regulations are comprehensive. "Of course we're keeping them under review at all times, because the types of drones are changing, the ways drones are being used are evolving," he said.

Of course, a lot could have gone wrong with the flight. In a best-case scenario, the flight would have drained the batteries and dropped the angler into the water. More seriously, computer or motor issues could have sent the aircraft flying out of control.

The ABC reports that Tim French, an electrician who helped design and build the drone, declined to comment.

(Image from posted video)

FMI: Source report