Drone Crashes Right in Front of Cyclist, Causing Nasty Wreck

[gringorio]

Looks like the Phantom got caught in the front wheel causing the rider to crash:

Link to article: Drone Crashes Right in Front of Cyclist, Causing Nasty Wreck

 

[ElGuapo]

Another numbnuts, idiot, and irresponsible drone flyer flying a drone where he is not supposed. What part of "Do Not fly over people or at sporting events" you did not understand.

 

[THA]

Looks like cyclist took a while to panic and hit front brake to crash. Doesn't look like the UAV actually crashed him but instead made him make a mistake and crash. Either way, UAV operator was wrong and dangerous. Even looks staged but can't believe someone would actually deliberately crash himself like that

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Looks like cyclist took a while to panic and hit front brake to crash. Doesn't look like the UAV actually crashed him but instead made him make a mistake and crash. Either way, UAV operator was wrong and dangerous. Even looks staged but can't believe someone would actually deliberately crash himself like that

Actually debris caught up in his front tire.

Once again you have a few idiots who bring a bad name to this community.

 

[nwcove]

Another numbnuts, idiot, and irresponsible drone flyer flying a drone where he is not supposed. What part of "Do Not fly over people or at sporting events" you did not understand.

yep! thats how this hobby is eventually going to get completely banned for hobbyists.

 

[ElGuapo]

No wonder people give me bad looks when I'm out doing work for customers.

 

[sparky1111]

It kinda looks fake. Don't get me wrong the idiot with the drone deserves his fate but punishing other drone users is like taking everyone's car off them because someone accidentally run someone over!

 

[nwcove]

i dont think the cyclist would fake that face plant, accidents like that have the potential to be lethal. my uneducated guess for the cause of the bicycle crash would be a flat front tire, caused by the drone , that may have came off the rim.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

It kinda looks fake. Don't get me wrong the idiot with the drone deserves his fate but punishing other drone users is like taking everyone's car off them because someone accidentally run someone over!

Not fake, I was at this race the day before watching my girlfriend race... all too real. I'm trying to find out who the cyclist was... and also who the drone operator was.

This is also 2.5 miles from a large controlled airport - I doubt he contacted or had authorization from the tower either... This will certainly be looked at by the FAA.

This gets to me not just because of the bad press, but also part of my business is aerial coverage of cycling events...

 

[Helihover]

Ok. I'll play devils advocate.

What exactly did the pilot do wrong?

I didn't see any UAV flying over people. I seen a UAV tumbling through a tree and then falling in the street.

Was the UAV over the Street? Doesn't look that way to me.

Was the UAV hovering or flying forward when it hit the tree?

Was the pilot in control at the time of the crash?

Was the pilot 107 with authorizations or a 101 hobbiest who contacted the tower 2-1/2 miles away?

Who to say who's an idiot?

 

[42FrankZ]

Who to say who's an idiot?

That's the way it works on the Internet. Someone does something that mighta been stupid and they are now and idipot and a moron, no matter the circumstances, now matter what mighta happened and no matter if they have ever done anything wrong in the past.

1 second of video now proves it.

 

[Helihover]

I just watched the video again and I gotta say that indo was totally done on purpose. In fact I think I can see his hand/arm make the motion to brake.

The debris from the UAV were all on the ground at the time he indoed. If debris was going to cause an accident like this, it would have happened right after the impact, not 5 revolutions at 40 mph later.

 

[gringorio]

i dont think the cyclist would fake that face plant, accidents like that have the potential to be lethal. my uneducated guess for the cause of the bicycle crash would be a flat front tire, caused by the drone , that may have came off the rim.

If you look closely at the video when it is in slo-mo you can clearly see the Phantom is caught in the front wheel and fork, causing the rider to flip.

 

[gringorio]

I just watched the video again and I gotta say that indo was totally done on purpose. In fact I think I can see his hand/arm make the motion to brake.
The debris from the UAV were all on the ground at the time he indoed. If debris was going to cause an accident like this, it would have happened right after the impact, not 5 revolutions at 40 mph later.

If you look closely at the video when it is in slo-mo you can clearly see the Phantom is caught in the front wheel and fork, causing the rider to flip.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

Ok. I'll play devils advocate.

What exactly did the pilot do wrong?

I didn't see any UAV flying over people. I seen a UAV tumbling through a tree and then falling in the street.

Was the UAV over the Street? Doesn't look that way to me.

Was the UAV hovering or flying forward when it hit the tree?

Was the pilot in control at the time of the crash?

Was the pilot 107 with authorizations or a 101 hobbiest who contacted the tower 2-1/2 miles away?

Who to say who's an idiot?

I am from this area and was at the stage 1 of this race on Saturday the day before this incident... where he was flying had a tree lined course and spectators all along the way, in addition to the peleton of riders doing 30mph. VERY sketchy flying conditions even for an excellent pilot... even if this were "OK" to do.

Now for what he did wrong:

1) 107 or hobbyist, does not matter he was flying over people.

2) Also he was only 2.5 miles form a large controlled airport (Mather Field) in class D airspace and I find it unlikely he gained FAA permission to fly over people since I have not found ONE waiver granted to do that or (as a hobbyist) contacted the tower 3 days prior to his flight.

3) He was stupid - but no laws or rules against that...

 

[N017RW]

yep! thats how this hobby is eventually going to get completely banned for hobbyists.

Really?
Not a chance.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

I now know who the cyclist was... working on who the Phantom operator was...

 

[CactusJackSlade]

Really?
Not a chance.

Not as far off as you think.... in this very county where this happened (Sacramento County) we can no longer fly at any public (county) parks...

 

[CactusJackSlade]

If you look closely at the video when it is in slo-mo you can clearly see the Phantom is caught in the front wheel and fork, causing the rider to flip.

Verified by the rider himself....

 

[N017RW]

Not as far off as you think.... in this very county where this happened (Sacramento County) we can no longer fly at any public (county) parks...

As it should be. Been flying all kinds of r/c aircraft for 4 decades and have no need to endanger non-participants with my exposed prop(s) buzzing around on a radio controlled toy.