Every time I fly I learn a lesson. The lesson this time was “you can’t trust the collision avoidance system to save you.”
Fortunately this story has a happy ending: Nobody was hurt, I was able to recover the drone and Fixacrash had me flying the next day.
Awesome video. Amazing you found it and were able to get it fixed.
Thanks!
How were you able to fly so close to the bridge and in the city.
The public environment is quite a bit more hostile to drone pilots today than it was even just a year ago. You used to be able to fly everywhere, but now it seems that everyone wants to restrict drone flights, even when they have no legal framework to do so.
That part of the city, at that time, had approximately zero pedestrians. According to the FAA, you can’t fly over “non-participants” unless they are protected (indoors or in a vehicle), so flying in that area is mostly ok from a safety standpoint. But, you’d better be prepared for what happens if you crash into someone’s property, wreck their car, or cause an auto accident. I carry a few million dollars worth of liability insurance, but even that may not be sufficient to fully protect you if things go sideways.
That is a horribly scary story that we all have experienced. I did that same flight path.