www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9155013/Blundering-cop-destroys-64-000-drone-pressing-wrong-buttons-remote-control-panel.html
I'm seriously trying not to chuckle!
I think we need to know if the officer was on duty when this was happening...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatwick_Airport_drone_incident
:-)
Lots of cakes due I suspect. I truly hope he doesn't get in too much trouble over this - after a couple of hours training for a £64k machine seems inadequate.
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>> www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9155013/Blundering-cop-destroys-64-000-drone-pressing-wrong-buttons-remote-control-panel.html
>>
>> I'm seriously trying not to chuckle!
Well, chuckle if you wish, but it's your sixty four thousand pounds that has gone up in smoke, or down in the drink actually.
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>> Well, chuckle if you wish, but it's your sixty four thousand pounds that has gone
>> up in smoke, or down in the drink actually.
Yes but nothing can be done to recover it now. The bobby wasn't really to blame. Other articles point out that he only had 2 hours training and 6 hours use.
Considering no one was hurt, I would rather see it as a light hearted learning exercise rather than cry over spilt milk.
Though a 3.5kg drone falling 21 meters could have killed someone, the chances were that the person would have been on land and the expensive drone could be recovered saving £64k.
One's a tragedy, the other is comedy.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 20 Jan 21 at 02:22
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>> Considering no one was hurt, I would rather see it as a light hearted learning
>> exercise rather than cry over spilt milk.
OK. No one was hurt, but what about my 64,000 quid?
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>> OK. No one was hurt, but what about my 64,000 quid?
And mine! I am a council tax payer for this force!
TBH, in the cost to the Exchequer or police budget it's less than a rounding error.
Also, £64k is the new price. The thing was apparently a 2013 model and equivalents go for CAD 40k so about £20k. Even so, no one was hurt.
I still maintained it happened, luckily no one was hurt. Have a chuckle but learn from it.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 20 Jan 21 at 02:22
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>> OK. No one was hurt, but what about my 64,000 quid?
Was it insured?
Seriously though how does an ordinary Copper get to be flying it with so little training that he can shut down the motors by getting impatient over a screen icon.
This is by no means the first AAIB report to focus on the risk to people on the ground from a drone in uncontrolled descent.
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>> Seriously though how does an ordinary Copper get to be flying it with so little
>> training that he can shut down the motors by getting impatient over a screen icon.
>>
>> This is by no means the first AAIB report to focus on the risk to
>> people on the ground from a drone in uncontrolled descent.
>>
I think there needs to be a kill switch on these things because damage to the rotors or arms can make the thing uncontrollable and their software is unlikely to be sophisticated enough to detect such an issue and figure out how to land safely.
That said, surely this should be a proper physical switch with a cap over it like a gun's safety device, rather than just a software prompt.
Also, there are times in this video where the Derbyshire Police's drone appears to fly close to people or directly over them which I understood was totally unacceptable under the CAA drone rules.
www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/mar/26/police-drone-video-shames-people-using-national-park-during-uk-lockdown-video
Last edited by: zippy on Tue 19 Jan 21 at 23:35
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There is a 'kill' switch on the controller display that turns an icon of the drone's shadow to flashing red and needs that flashing red icon to be tapped three times within three seconds.
According to the AAIB "he didn't realise it was a warning and tried to clear it".
www.theregister.com/2021/01/19/sussex_police_drone_crash_crawley/
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>> There is a 'kill' switch on the controller display that turns an icon of the
>> drone's shadow to flashing red and needs that flashing red icon to be tapped three
>> times within three seconds.
>> According to the AAIB "he didn't realise it was a warning and tried to clear
>> it".
>>
>> www.theregister.com/2021/01/19/sussex_police_drone_crash_crawley/
>>
That's what I read elsewhere and thought well if it causes confusion it's silly. It needs to be a big switch with a lock cap that says "emergency power off" or similar.
Software isn't always the answer. When visiting factories I see numerous machines demonstrated to me, usually CNC machines, or feeders for them, or robots with functions on large touch screens or keyboards to turn them on or off and to get them to do their stuff.
They all have one feature in common though, a huge physical red stop button (sometimes under a clear plastic flap to prevent accidental nudging).
Last edited by: zippy on Wed 20 Jan 21 at 00:10
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>It needs to be a big switch with a lock cap that says "emergency power off" or similar.
And they could mount it on a headband like one of those handsfree torches!
Or maybe, just maybe, plod could be made to treat drone operators like they do advanced drivers and ensure that they are trained, competent and qualified to do the job, not a couple of hours and "Here's your drone. Don't crash it."
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METRE. No gas was involved.
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Full AAIB report is here:
tinyurl.com/y5adqfcj
Pdf on the AAIB website.
Key point The SkyRanger UAS includes a quadcopter UA powered by four electric motors with a maximum takeoff weight of 3.5 kg. Using the DROPS analysis tool a dropped object of this weight is capable of causing fatal injuries to an individual wearing a hard hat from a height of only 4 m.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 19 Jan 21 at 21:42
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you'll have to put the full link on, the clickable links aren't working at the moment.
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>> you'll have to put the full link on, the clickable links aren't working at the
>> moment.
If you cut/paste the link and then edit out www.car4play.com/redirect.php? then it works.
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I would imagine a good proportion of the cost of the drone is the infra red camera.
If I'm not mistaken to commercially use a drone, which I'd imagine this falls under, requires CAA accreditation. Thereby competency has to be demonstrated, not just in flying hours but also other operating procedures.
I've never flown a drone but have watched a few drone pilots, and they fly themselves to a point.
Yeah, £64K to a Police budget is chicken feed. 2 or 3 written off cars, compensation payouts, couple of salaries, policing a protest and so on.
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I fancy a drone but haven't got around to it. Mostly because you need a licence to fly one here and they're a PITA to get.
This guy is in for a significant world of pain if they find him.
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Police Crash £64k drone - Duncan
