Another day, another controversial drone crash. This time though, the entire incident was captured via the onboard camera.
An Ohio resident who was vacationing on Marco Island, Florida is not facing charges after his drone lost signal and crashed onto the 20th floor balcony of a beachside condo.
The operator of the drone, who remains anonymous, lost signal to his drone as he was trying to capture beachside footage of Marco Island. As a result, the drone attempted to return to where the operator was located. The problem was, the drone didn’t take into account the large building standing between its current location and its operator.
As can be seen in the footage, the drone was flying at a fairly high rate as it barely clears the balcony railing and crashes into the window of the condo.
According to police, the operator did have the drone licensed, but nonetheless, the incident was reported to the FAA per protocol.
The owners of the condo that was struck by the drone have voiced concerns about their privacy, but after reviewing the incident and accompanying footage, it was determined there were no invasions of privacy.
As shown in the NBC 2 video, this incident not only affects the operator whose drone crashed, but could also reverberate repercussions for others. Marco Island drone operator Mike Smith said he’s concerned these sort of crashes will ‘ruin it for the good people who are following the rules.’
Consider this a friendly reminder to always keep your drone in sight and take into consideration various obstacles and buildings that could become unwilling targets for your drone’s flight path.
[via NBC 2]
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