Do you think a Drone could never fall from the sky and hit someone? Guess again......

I received the following information in an email at work this week.

Title: Drone Event

Date: 9/23/2019
Summary
A Duke Energy contractor was struck by a falling drone at the former Duke Energy Miami Fort (OH) Power Station. Duke contractors were performing exterior asbestos preparation work in an area adjacent to the generating plant which is now operated by a peer utility
The peer utility had contracted with a company to take aerial pictures of the coal adjacent to the Duke work area. The drone was to fly a pre-programmed route of the coal yard staying a minimum of 200 feet west of the stack where Duke contractors were working. The drone was pre-programmed with GPS coordinates. The pilot realized that the drone was off course and went to his truck to locate it. At that point, the drone contacted the stack 340 feet above the ground. The drone then lost power and descended rapidly to strike a Duke contract worker who was standing on the ground near the base of the stack. He was treated for minor injuries to the chest and shoulder. The drone weighed 3 pounds and was 12 inches in diameter.

Lessons Learned

Note that this was not a Duke Energy drone operation. If unwanted drones are spotted, contact Duke Energy Aviation Services immediately.

Duke Energy personnel shall follow these work practices:
All Duke Energy drone operations must be approved and coordinated through Duke Energy Aviation Services.
Federal regulations prohibit flight over people.
Contact Aviation Services immediately for the following:
All questions about drone operations.
If operational, near miss, or injury incidents occur.
The pictures that were included in the original email show that the Drone in this accident was a Phantom 4 Pro. Duke will be following up with a formal investigation into this incident. When that becomes available I will post the detailed findings.


I am not posting this to be an alarmist or to start a debate. Just trying to point out to those folks that think certain things won't happen actually do happen - even when trying to fly safely. It is the reason why Regulations exist and why Safety and Situational Awareness are important. Obviously Regulations alone do not prevent accidents like this. But they do help bring to the forefront why safety is of the utmost importance. And I feel they help make folks aware that these "toys" need to be flown responsibly.
Thank you for the reminder. It is very much appreciated. Some people are full for criticism whenever someone posts valuable information. Perhaps it makes them feel more important or better than everyone else. One of the negatives of an open forum, I guess. Anyway, I for one thank you for reminding us that it can and does happen.
 
No matter what pre-programmed app in use DJI, Litchi, or other, PIC has to keep controller on hand and be vlos with drone to monitor flight path and in case of any malfunction he/she can take control. Not saying this is what happened but from what I’ve read this seems to be the case.
 
Not sure if this was just a rookie mistake or just a lapse of judgement. I am hoping that the ensuing investigation into the incident will provide more insight and a better lesson learned than what was originally provided.

For sure. What kind of lessons learned was that? It wasn't our drone. Next time they should use our drone. BS. Yes the Duke drone pictured above is an octocopter which is much less likely to crash with an engine or prop failure, but if they think the problem was that it was an outside contactor and that it never could have happened if one of their guys was at the sticks they are simply delusional.
 
For sure. What kind of lessons learned was that? It wasn't our drone. Next time they should use our drone. BS. Yes the Duke drone pictured above is an octocopter which is much less likely to crash with an engine or prop failure, but if they think the problem was that it was an outside contactor and that it never could have happened if one of their guys was at the sticks they are simply delusional.
I think you jumped the shark in your last sentence. I don't think it said or even inferred that this would not have happened if this was a Duke Drone. None of us are totally exempt from accidents. If you think you are, THAT is delusional.
 
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You can't fix stupid. Fortunately though, you can replace it...
 
I think you jumped the shark in your last sentence. I don't think it said or even inferred that this would not have happened if this was a Duke Drone. None of us are totally exempt from accidents. If you think you are, THAT is delusional.

When did I say I was exempt from accidents? I said The company drone pilots are not exempt from accidents.
Lessons learned is about analyzing what happened and coming up with ways to prevent recurrence.
'It wasn't our guy it was someone else, make sure all flights are done through our aviation center' -paraphrasing the "Lessons Learned" from the original post. Is not a lessons learned.
 
When did I say I was exempt from accidents? I said The company drone pilots are not exempt from accidents.
Lessons learned is about analyzing what happened and coming up with ways to prevent recurrence.
'It wasn't our guy it was someone else, make sure all flights are done through our aviation center' -paraphrasing the "Lessons Learned" from the original post. Is not a lessons learned.
Agreed, the lesson learned was very weak. I think it was written from the perspective of the person that was hit and not from the Drone operation perspective.

Perhaps I should have said 'If someone thinks they are THAT is delusional'. Did not mean to point the finger at you with that statement. Sorry.
 
I was slowly landing on a public beach
after having looked all ways.
Still, a senior jogger almost ran into
my P4P+ as it hovered at about 6 ft high;
Am assuming my fault legally regardless...
 
So... Drones=1... Deaths by drones =0
Pilot Error/Inexperience is more than likely the root cause....

Jerry
 
I was slowly landing on a public beach
after having looked all ways.
Still, a senior jogger almost ran into
my P4P+ as it hovered at about 6 ft high;
Am assuming my fault legally regardless...
I am curious, how did you not see the jogger until he was almost at the drone?
 
"Pilot" was probably required to wear a hard hat. And as we all know. Wearing a hard hat requires one to stand idly by with hands in your pocket unless you are smoking a cigarette, of course. Which is why he was not holding the remote. ;)
 
The title of this thread is “Do you think a Drone could never fall from the sky and hit someone?”
NOBODY thinks their bird could NEVER fall out of the sky.

Especially those with a P4.

One of the best drones ever made to date, but everybody knows they are the most likely to drop out of the sky.
 
I saw my first video of a drone striking someone on the head (taken by the falling drone) years ago.

Who said this doesn't happen? This isn't new.

Chris
 
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Agree but I bet they all think about it ..I'd say that's in the head of most,,it pays to think these issues through before it should happen,I tell you to once it happens its firmly stuck in the mind with every flight being fixed wing or a drone
Agreed...we all KNOW we just think...”that won’t be me” :)
 
This is why the law requires visual line of sight by the PIC and also the ability to take immediate command of the aircraft, regardless of whether the aircraft has been pre programmed or not, this pilot should have had the remote in hand, eyes on the aircraft and when it began to deviate from its expected flight path he should have taken control and flown it by hand to avoid the stack. He is solely responsible for this accident and will pay the price for his inattentiveness.
Too bad. Hope he learns a lesson.
 
It’s like seeing the pilot and copilot come out of cockpit into the passenger cabin to mingle with passengers and assuring them “everything is ok, the autopilot is on”.
 
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It’s like seeing the pilot and copilot come out of cockpit into the passenger cabin to mingle with passengers and assuring them “everything is ok, the autopilot is on”.

That would be wild. Wonder if that would increase the pucker-factor if both my f/o and I did that on a Cat III approach to JFK?
 
One drone hits one person and the world goes nuts. Meanwhile, in the full scale aviation world...

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D
 
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Not a good thing and was googling for that and saw Duke Energy seems to use drones a lot. This is one of theirs and is good this didn't hit him.
View attachment 114896
I have seen increasing usage by utilities, My local power company, Snapping Shoals EMC here in Georgia has two licensed operators and drones now using to inspect power lines, saying much better and cheaper than hiring the usually helicopters or planes,.
 

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