2016 seems to be a record year for Christmas drone crashes

I suppose it shouldn’t come as much surprise that drones have become the hot gift this year. There’s more drones on the market now than ever before. They range in price from $10 to thousands, and anybody can get hold of one. But, what surprises me is the number of them that seem to crash within 24 hours of emerging from their box.

It’s almost like the manufacturers don’t even pop any suggestions in the box at all. You know, like “If you’ve never flown a drone before, take it easy”, “Try to avoid hitting trees, houses, and peoples heads”, etc. But, then, humanity isn’t really the best at reading instruction manuals anyway. I just feel bad for all the poor Christmas trees.

Obviously, not all of the drones are camera capable. Some probably wouldn’t cause that much damage if they hit you, either. They’ll also survive a small crash pretty well. But, being careful is always a good idea with these things, even the small ones.

When you fly a drone for the first time & crash into the Christmas tree after 3seconds…?

— Daniela (@danielaxo_21) December 26, 2016

Merry Christmas, my 7y/o nephew got a drone and immediately crashed it into a tree and cried

— .faith. (@faith_schaffer) December 25, 2016

Just barrel rolled my new drone into the Christmas tree so yes, I am having a fantastic Christmas. #luckiestkid #greatday #hopeyourswastoo!

— Ashley Knapton (@KaptinKnapton) December 26, 2016

My brother got a drone for Christmas and my mom just flew it into the Christmas tree

— Rachael (@rachaellann21) December 26, 2016

Some weren’t quite so fortunate, but still decided to have a second go at killing it.

@RachelGriffiith update: he got it working again, and immediately got it stuck in the top of a huge tree.

— Rachel Griffith ? (@RachelGriffiith) December 25, 2016

It took me all of 7 minutes to crash my 7-year-olds new Christmas remote powered drone into the neighbors new Christmas Lexus.

— The Dad (@JMatthewNespoli) December 26, 2016

got a drone for christmas and out of all places I crash it in a police officers yard

— Ar (@Lel_cazares) December 25, 2016

Although, I suppose it could be worse.

Trev got a drone for Christmas! He flew it for all of about 2.5 minutes before crash landing into a pile of dog poop..?? #merrychristmas

— Laken Jade Rose (@laken_jade) December 26, 2016

The influx of “selfie drones” recently has also led to one or two issues. Not all of them have their propeller blades quite as protected as others. So you’ll still want to avoid flying them near peoples heads.

When ur boyfriend gets a drone stuck in your hair for Christmas pic.twitter.com/AVxw7e258M

— Ashlyn (@ashlyn_lauren) December 26, 2016

Finally, there’s those that simply lost them.

I got a drone for Christmas. Let dad play with the drone. Dad flew the drone too high and lost the drone. Now, I no longer have a drone.

— ✊Gabriella Esquivel (@Yo_GabaGabby) December 25, 2016

My dad got a drone for Christmas.
My dad lost a drone on Christmas.

— Jordon River (@miss_jordon) December 26, 2016

One or two did find them again, though.

Makenna watching her uncle and aunt searching for the Christmas drone in the fields and forest of the 450 today. The lost was found. Whew. pic.twitter.com/SiQITmLLs3

— Jim Lyon (@PastorJimLyon) December 26, 2016

And there are so many more on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Some are obvious setups to get views, but there’s a lot out there crashing simply because they don’t know what they’re doing.

The FAA did actually put up a video last month warning users to fly safely with their drones. It appears that quite a few folks didn’t see it, so here it is again.

If you’ve just got a new drone and haven’t lost or killed it yet, please be careful. Aside from risking financial loss or personal injury, learning to fly them properly is just way more fun!

Remember, a drone is not just for Christmas!

Did you get a new drone for Christmas? Do you still have that new drone? Did you give one to somebody else this year? Do you know somebody who killed or lost their new Christmas drone? Let us know in the comments.