Friend stuck his fingers in the rotating propeller of his Phantom 4

[Mimoid]

It was an accident of course. As he was trying to land, he inadvertently revved up the remote and then foolishly tried to catch the drone. His fingers got into the rotating blades somehow (don't ask). The good thing is that beyond two superficial skin cuts, nothing dramatic happened. No visit to the emergency room and no stitching needed, just a cleaning, a simple band-aid and that's it. At least now I know that the standard plastic blades won't "chop off fingers" or anything like that - they are in fact super flexible. I still would nor want to stick my face into the propeller arc, but I am not the least worried about hand catching any more (actually I wasn't before either).

Thought you would know.

 

[solentlife]

I suggest that your pal was extremely lucky.

Paul - a close friend of mine put his hand into a similar sized prop of same material - DJI props are made of GFN - that is Glass Reinforced Nylon ... not just flexi plastic as some think.

Paul lost the use of his index finger for months - Hospital could not find out why as they had stitched etc. as best they could. Turned out a sliver of GFN which is not picked up by X-Ray had lodged in the last joint area and prevented bending of the finger. Once that exited (came out on its own) - he regained the use of that finger about 90%.

I have personal experience of an APC prop - again same material and similar size losing a blade during a bench test ... the blade sliced into the bench edge embedding itself half blade width into it. It took a large knife and grips to get that blade out.

Sorry - but if anyone thinks that these props cannot do serious damage - then I hope you never have occasion to find out the truth of what they can really do ...

Of course there are occasions like OP's that damage is limited ... it all depends on how and what happen. I have been 'nicked' by a 15" prop on front of a 15cc gasoline engine. The engine beng at medium rpm meant the prop was literally a disc and it 'knocked' my hand rather than letting it through. If the rpm had been lower - I doubt I would be typing this post so easily.

Sorry but I've seen too many prop strikes to ever want to see another.

 

[Mimoid]

Ugh, sounds nasty... I guess you are right, it all depends on how it happens. The speed of the propeller, the angle of the impact and so on. I think Mythbusters tried to cut an artificial neck with a Phantom type prop in an episode, but only ended up making some nicks on the skin. They had to use a much bigger drone with a carbon propeller to actually cause a serious (and potentially fatal) cut. But let's agree not to poke fingers into the rotating propellers...

 

[Geoelectro]

This reminds me of my first weedeater experience. Back in the 70's the inventor of the weedeater was working in Houston. One of his employees also worked at my music store. She introduced us to this new product that can cut grass with string! I was an early adopter. So I'm weedeating at home and a neighbor says, hey! what's that? I said it's a weedeater! It cuts grass with string! Then, I raised it up and stuck my finger in the spinning "string".... See!... it doesn't hurt you! All the while I'm in total shock at the amount of pain I'm feeling and trying to keep a half smile on my face wondering if I damaged myself!!! LESSON LEARNED!

Geo

 

[awasos21]

A friend if mine with a mavic pro has some gnarly scars on his leg from the props on his drone. Your friend got lucky

 

[uke]

Your friend was lucky. I screwed up and grabbed my hexacopter while it was on the ground with motors running low speed and sliced my forearm pretty well. But those were carbon props, so YMMV.

 

[Ti Drone]

Hand catch in the wet, stock P4P props. D'oh!

 

[Imf44]

Hand catch in the wet, stock P4P props. D'oh!

View attachment 108018

oh no

 

[With The Birds]

A friend of mine got hit by a car with no significant injury. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone it’s safe to be hit by a car or that he might’ve so lucky if it happened again.

 

[BanditsRoost]

Just today this happend to my Sister-In-Law. My brother (Huey1) was out flying and taking some photos when the P3SE disconnected. It was less than 60 feet so it did a RTH and started its landing. When it landed it flipped over. Props weren't spinning so she went to pick it up for my brother. When she turned it right-side up it started up again and got both of her forearms. Smart lady just dropped it and jumped away. Not before it gave her some nasty bites though. As they say in "Forged in Fire" .... Those blades will cut!!.

 

[With The Birds]

Just today this happend to my Sister-In-Law. My brother (Huey1) was out flying and taking some photos when the P3SE disconnected. It was less than 60 feet so it did a RTH and started its landing. When it landed it flipped over. Props weren't spinning so she went to pick it up for my brother. When she turned it right-side up it started up again and got both of her forearms. Smart lady just dropped it and jumped away. Not before it gave her some nasty bites though. As they say in "Forged in Fire" .... Those blades will cut!!.
View attachment 108206

Another example of why it’s stupid to suggest the blades aren’t dangerous.

Hope she feels better soon.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

Hand catch in the wet, stock P4P props. D'oh!

View attachment 108018

We realized right away that flying in the Rain is a very slippery adventure, that is why we added the Neoprene Grips to the Phantom legs.
That really gives you a firm Non Slip Grip on that drone.

How exactly did the drone slip out of your hand. ?

 

[Mimoid]

Another example of why it’s stupid to suggest the blades aren’t dangerous.

Now, let's stay true, I never said that - I merely stated that the blades are not circular saws. They are not capable of decapitating you, slicing your jugular or chopping your fingers off. But they will most definitely cut into the skin and cause bleeding and pain.

And if anybody would want to stick their fingers into the blades just because "some random swedish dude wrote on the internet that it is fine", they would do it anyway.

 

[With The Birds]

Now, let's stay true, I never said that - I merely stated that the blades are not circular saws. They are not capable of decapitating you, slicing your jugular or chopping your fingers off. But they will most definitely cut into the skin and cause bleeding and pain.

And if anybody would want to stick their fingers into the blades just because "some random swedish dude wrote on the internet that it is fine", they would do it anyway.

I wasn’t referring to your commentary specifically- I have lost count of the number of times people have suggested plastic blades aren’t a threat. I had a little 450 side RC Heli power up on the bench. The main blades were off but I got hit by the tail rotor when I instinctively grabbed the tail boom. That’s when I got to see what the tendon sheath in my thumb looks like and has my first exposure to microsurgery. 100% successful repair but not much fun. Those plastic tail rotor blades are a lot less substantial than on the phantoms. I wouldn’t like anyone to be unnecessarily complacent about the risks here.