$65K drone crashed: why you should never touch your copter while it is airborne :)

[R_Lefebvre]

You seem to want to talk about Arducopter vs. others. The point of my post was about user skill and training.

We don't know why it wasn't responding to user's input. Obviously the Tx/Rx was working or he couldn't have armed and taken off. But after that, nobody knows. And that's a problem.

Extremely few Arducopter "users" are writing code. Mostly only superusers, like NASA and other educational institutions using it as a basis for further development.

 

[jimbril]

Just a couple of things that come in mind and would like to share after watching the video and reading this thread. (especially for dji controllers):

1. When arming and before every take off (while on the ground) always check that you have rc control by giving some elevator / aileron inputs and see that the copter responds accordingly. Then take off.

2. Be sure you are comfortable flying in manual mode. (You might want to edit your dual rates on the tx, as the dji manual mode is usually very agile). Switching to manual mode in dji controllers, sometimes (not always) gives you back control of an otherwise uncontrolled fly-away. So, if for some reason you lose control always switch to manual mode and try to regain it.

3. In my opinion a "throttle hold" or "motor kill" function is as important as the failsafe RTH function and it should be an option inside the assistant software. Also pilots should always be ready to use it for safety reasons, just the way we use it in the single rotor heli 3d flights when something goes wrong.

4. Keep the appropriate safety distances from people and property.

What we saw on the video could happen to anyone of us, so the best thing to do IMO is to learn from it and try to find ways and practices that would ensure safety and minimize the damage when something goes wrong.

Best regards,
Dimitris Brilakis, Greece
www.aerialmedia.gr

 

[dazzab]

You seem to want to talk about Arducopter vs. others. The point of my post was about user skill and training.

The last paragraph in your post was a statement on how Arducopter handles GPS glitches. How is that related to skill and training? My comments are meant simply to balance the information you provided.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

That was a specific response to a specific question by another user. He was asking about what options there are in case of systems failures. My response was about what is possible to be done. Whether or not one system or another does everything else perfectly should not prevent people from talking about ideas for safe operations, and brainstorming what is technically possible.

 

[macc]

Interested to hear what happens to the operators in these cases. Are they even cautioned by the aviation authority .A similar crash by in souhern ireland recently ended with a movi m10 & a cinestar going down with a c300 on board, all written off. Inexperienced pilot error allegedly. Mikrokpter controller Nobody hurt thank god & im sure they are pleased no one was filming the flight.