Drone - Major Liability Issue

I didn't need any further convincing to stay far away from drones. Rarely do I receive requests for drone footage. When I do I pass the request along to someone who is braver than I.
 
How do we know it was from a UAS? Do we have the melted hulk anywhere to prove this? Not saying it is impossible, but with the newest generation of batteries it is highly unlikely! That said, if it was a discount toy, then it might be made with the cheaper batteries that don't have the chemistry to prevent fires. The modern hobby Lipo has additional chemicals in them to prevent the raging fires that you've probably seen on youtube. Those days passed a long time ago.

Again, not saying impossible, saying it is unlikely unless I see the burned hulk and in which case they should release it because the RC community would be able to identify pretty much anything based on what was left over. Trust me when I say that the RC community in general has a very strong interest in keeping things friendly with the government when possible. And if it was a DJI, just ask DJI for the flights that occurred in that area around that same time, they have logs of anything that hasn't been hacked.
 
Also the one person that I know who does fly professionally carries a very high level of insurance. Wouldn't cover all of this damage, but I think he has a million dollar liability policy. He also makes $2600 for a 10 hour day.
 
Take this with a huge pinch of salt. Drones routinely get blamed for things that they had nothing to do with.

I have a commercial drone license, my liability cover is £20million. A fire extinguisher costs £19! Also, if this is a genuine drone incident and the operator didn't have approval for his flight, I'm pretty sure his liability insurance will be null and void.
 
For hobby use he wouldn't have needed any approval as long as he was outside the 5 mile airport boundary.

Again, I need a statement from the user (prefer on camera), or pictures of the burned hulk before I will believe this story. And just because it comes from a large news organization, they still get things wrong and blame the evil drones for things that are not a drone's fault.

Like Monty Python's rabbit, these damn drones can take your head off with a single bite from a prop.
 
If at all, manufacture of drone components is self regulated. If the same standards were applied that applied to GA aircraft most folks wouldn’t be able to afford to fly them and technological advancement would be severely curtailed. Hopefully some new battery tech will come online soon. Note that flying as a hobbyist doesn’t resolve one of financial risk.
 
The title of the news story includes "national forest wildfire" which evokes images of a raging FOREST FIRE, when in fact from the photos this looks like just a GRASS fire. Also, was it 35 acres, or 335 acres? Story cites both numbers. Maybe we need aerial drone footage to show the scope of the damage ;-)

Thanks

Jeff
 
I'm sure xjet on Youtube will have some kind of comment on this, but it seems like facts are once again slim.
 
At this point commercial (pretty much DJI) battery tech is such that this is an exceedingly rare thing to have happen.

There's probably an equal chance your camera battery (or one of those massive V-Locks or AB Golds) catches fire and causes the same problem.
 
The point of the post is not whether or not the story has its facts straight, but rather, the idea of the liabilities of operating a drone. It made me think about what things could happen if I operated a drone that I would not have foreseen.

Life throws you curve balls. For example, someone in my neighborhood (we have large lots of 2 more acres) was mowing his field during the dry season. The story in the paper was that he hit a rock and the spark started a fire which ended up burning down 3 houses. I didn't believe the story. I couldn't believe a spark had enough heat to start a fire. I thought there had to be gasoline or something else involved. I talked to the fire department and they confirmed the ignition was from the blade hitting a rock. They also said it happens on a regular basis. It made me much more thoughtful about mowing my field in the dry season.
 
But when you buy a cow to keep the grass short, also be carefull with open fire, their methane farts can throw large flames.
 
I think you are taking the wrong message away from this story. A 24ft camera crane in the wrong hands can be 10 times more dangerous than a camera drone. The lesson to me is always hire the specialist and professional because the hidden gems of wisdom that only come from experience are truly worth their weight in gold. Good drone operators know how to keep batteries healthy so they don't suddenly burst into fire, just like a good camera operator knows to lock a tripod head when they walk away from the camera so it doesn't fall on it's face. Almost any job on a set you put someone in who doesn't have the experience and they are capable of damaging equipment or worse.

also the link is dead, was the article pulled?
 
Drone's seem a lot more intimidating then they really are. That being said, saftey should always be your number concern when flying. Taking the part107 helps understand aspects of saftey but you also have to use your head when flying. You begin to learn where and how to fly and where is too risky.
 
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