Drone Video Crashing into Seattle Space Needle (Page 2): When the Founding Fathers wrote the constitution, the ball musket was the most powerful hand held weapon available to the...

mancemd

When the Founding Fathers wrote the constitution, the ball musket was the most powerful hand held weapon available to the citizen soldier. Some in the NRA argue that the AR 15 (Armalite Rifle - Not Automatic Rifle as the AR-15 as sold is a Semi-Automatic weapon) would be today's equivalent. But we got off on a tangent. I think drones are just a terrorist incident waiting to happen but that's my personal opinion. I don't make policy. I will leave it to those in DHS, FBI and others who are charged with protecting us to figure that out. The problem with that is they didn't even consider terrorists using box cutters to commander planes and fly them into buildings even though terrorist chatter was out there about doing exactly this. They also missed trucks used to mow down people in crowds even though chatter was out there about terrorists doing exactly this. So much for "intelligence agencies".

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

MtnMan wrote:

Unless it broke something I wonder what they could charge him with?

Most likely the FAA has the Space Needle designated a no-fly drone. If nothing else there could be a hefty fine if no criminal charges. Most likely the drone or at least the memory card were returned when they tracked down the owner. It's easy to misjudge distances because of the extreme wide angle of the lens on most drones. Unfortunately I learned that the hard way.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

The serial number of the drone was traced back to the registered owner by the FAA. Seattle PD indicates charges are pending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_u5tAXFHoQ

It sure did!

Erdos2 Loc: Vancouver, WA

Leicaflex wrote:

Obviously took his eye off the ball.
Interesting looking structure.
Than you for the link.

Probably the drone lost the signal. It took off from other side of space needle at some distance. The combination of distance, radio signals and the space needle blocking the signals might have caused the drone to try to automatically fly back to it's take off location. The fact that all of sudden it starts flying quickly in that final direction leads to this hypothesis.

Jerry

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

Erdos2 wrote:

Probably the drone lost the signal. It took off from other side of space needle at some distance. The combination of distance, radio signals and the space needle blocking the signals might have caused the drone to try to automatically fly back to it's take off location. The fact that all of sudden it starts flying quickly in that final direction leads to this hypothesis.

Jerry

That's a good possibility. Mine switched itself to RTH (return to home) mode a hit a brick wall. It was my first one and I learned the hard way to turn off the aircraft before turning off the remote.

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

There are increasing aircraft-drone incidents in airport airspace. I am waiting for the first major tragedy when a jet ingests a drone and goes deadstick.

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

Los-Angeles-Shooter wrote:

There are increasing aircraft-drone incidents in airport airspace. I am waiting for the first major tragedy when a jet ingests a drone and goes deadstick.

There are an increasing number of idiots buying drones. Remember the one who worked for the Federal Government and one night while intoxicated crashed his on the lawn of the White House. I'm sure they have come up with a way to jam the signals by now. Here's a related article.

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/drones-with-built-in-no-fly-zones/

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

Here's another story to give drone pilots a black eye.

http://petapixel.com/2017/01/17/man-convicted-knocking-woman-unconscious-drone/

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

I was a passenger in a small plane which almost had a midair with a drone illegally in controlled airspace near Burbank airport (KBUR). The controller indicated it had happened before ...

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

Los-Angeles-Shooter wrote:

I was a passenger in a small plane which almost had a midair with a drone illegally in controlled airspace near Burbank airport (KBUR). The controller indicated it had happened before ...

I have an app on my tablet called "B4UFly". It's put out by the FAA. I'd recommend it to all drone pilots. I put in a location I intended to fly and it showed me a map with locations of all airports (large and small) and heliports such as at hospitals and some office buildings. I usually print out the maps and put them in the case with my drone. The flying apps and firmware stored on the drone are getting really advanced and in certain areas you can't start the motors since it is a no-fly zone. There are some mistakes. For instance I was going to fly at a small local airfield that has been closed and not seen an aircraft for probably 20 years and it appeared as a no-fly zone. FEMA uses it to base trailers used for emergency housing in the event of a hurricane or other disaster.

http://www.faa.gov/uas/where_to_fly/b4ufly/

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

MtnMan wrote:

Unless it broke something I wonder what they could charge him with?

Misdemeanor stupid flying?

https://www.dpreview.com/news/2853266464/flying-your-drone-into-the-space-needle-can-land-you-in-jail?ref_=pe_1822230_223399600_dpr_nl_242_25

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

Misdemeanor stupid flying?

https://www.dpreview.com/news/2853266464/flying-your-drone-into-the-space-needle-can-land-you-in-jail?ref_=pe_1822230_223399600_dpr_nl_242_25

Update: On Wednesday afternoon, after GeekWire and others published the above footage, Seattle transparency activist Tim Clemans pointed out on Twitter that since-deleted tweets pointed to who may have been flying the drone.

Clemans shared a Google cache link to the Twitter feed @colepsc — an account which has since been set to protected — and tweets on Jan. 5 that show the user admitting to crashing a drone into the Space Needle.

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

Misdemeanor stupid flying?

https://www.dpreview.com/news/2853266464/flying-your-drone-into-the-space-needle-can-land-you-in-jail?ref_=pe_1822230_223399600_dpr_nl_242_25

If there were a charge for everything stupid people do the court system would be more screwed up than it is now.

Flyerace Loc: Mt Pleasant, WI

This stupidity is one of the many reasons that drones are outlawed in so many places. That is too bad. Instead of learning how to control the darn thing, they just fly them and then are surprised when they crash. I want a drone, but have too many airports around my home. I'm never going to place a plane, and its passengers, in harms way. At least, I can have the voice of reason. The fines should be extreme to cull out the idiots.

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

Flyerace wrote:

This stupidity is one of the many reasons that drones are outlawed in so many places. That is too bad. Instead of learning how to control the darn thing, they just fly them and then are surprised when they crash. I want a drone, but have too many airports around my home. I'm never going to place a plane, and its passengers, in harms way. At least, I can have the voice of reason. The fines should be extreme to cull out the idiots.

There's plenty of wide open spaces around to fly without endangering aircraft. I fly over lakes and rivers and farmland within a 30 mile radius of my house. I've filmed some white rafters and some river gatherings for the local boat club. I've also flown over the bay and Gulf of Mexico in Destin, Florida. Plenty of restricted areas down there with Eglin AFB and local airports but it's not hard to find good safe flying areas. A little common sense and some homework can keep everybody safe.