Tower Company Employee Captures Video For Side Business

On a typical day, Kevin Schmidt of Rapid City, SD changes lightbulbs for a living. That becomes a bit more challenging when the lighbulbs are at the top of radio and other towers that may be 1,500 feet in the air.

And while that's not necessarily a story we might pass along to you, this is. One so Schmidt's co-workers ad Sioux Falls Tower has a side business called Prairie Aerial, and a video posted by that co-worker ... Todd Thorin ... has drawn more than a million hits on YouTube, and caught the attention of national and international media.

The video was actually captured by Thorin's son using a UAV equipped with a GoPro camera, and shows Schmidt at the top of a 1,500 foot tower doing what he does. The Argus Leader reports that the flight was the highest Thorin's son had ever flown the UAV, and it was well above the FAA's 400 foot altitude restriction for such aircraft. It was well above that, and the FAA may also want to know about the commercial nature of the video, and a violation of its rules against flying any aircraft within 500 feet of such a tower. Thorin, who edited the 9 minute flight down to a 2 minute video, said he has not yet been contacted by the FAA, but knows that "it's a controversial area of technology right now."

He's probably expecting a letter or a phone call. We'll keep you posted.

(Image captured from YouTube video)

FMI: http://youtu.be/f1BgzIZRfT8