Drone crashes into SWAT team tank during police test near Houston

During a photo op for police, a drone crashed into a SWAT team's armored vehicle !!

Questions are raised about general safety with drones flying "missions" for municipal governments.


March 4, 2012 -- Houston Page One Examiner

(Conroe, Montgomery County) -- A drone has crashed during a police test flight near Houston, adding to growing safety concerns as more police departments take flight with the unmanned aircraft.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office north of Houston became one of the first police departments in the country to begin flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for police missions in October 2011.

County officials and the maker of that drone confirmed on Friday that a recent police-only photo mission went terribly wrong.

As the sheriff's SWAT team suited up with lots of firepower and their armored vehicle known as the "Bearcat," a prototype drone from Vanguard Defense Industries took off for pictures of all the police action. It was basically a photo opportunity, according to those in attendance.

Drone Crash

reply to post by xuenchen


Bonzai!

Sorry, that's just the first thought that sprung to mind.

I always love it whan a photo op goes off kilter.

S&F just for making me laugh.

So no one thought a "flying" drone might malfunction and/or crash into things?

I bet half of their drones would malfunction flying over neighborhoods with all that wifi, satellite dishes, CB antennas, and the rest of the tech toys all pumping out waves through the air above.

reply to post by xuenchen


$300,000 for a fancy toy helicopter?

I seriously doubt that the need.. note.. the need for such a toy is so strong that it's worth a $300,000 per unit investment. Whoever negotiated that contract should be canned immediately.

I love it

Sorry, I have nothing to offer to the thread but Stars and Flags. And maybe a good chuckle

That unit cost $300,000 and the sheriff said Department of Homeland Security grant money was used.

Yeah, they got the money from DHS for that stupid, invasive program. I wonder where DHS got that kind of dispensible money...oh yeah, you and me.

More info from the article:

In the 2008 GAO study, Gerald Dillingham, Director of Civil Aviation for GAO said,

"The concern is that you could lose control of that aircraft and it could crash into something on the ground or, in fact, it could crash into another air vehicle."

The GAO study found that 65% of drone crashes were caused by mechanical failures. The study analyzed Pentagon and NASA data on 199 crashes of drones on battlefields.

[color=cyan]Before this Montgomery County crash, the only crash of a law enforcement drone was recorded in 2006 in Nogales, Arizona. The Customs & Border Protection flight crashed in the desert due to the same "lost link" scenario that sent the Montgomery County unit crashing into its SWAT team tank.

as usual, they ignore the genuine reports and consequences !!

reply to post by xuenchen


This is just one reason why I do not like drones.
There are many stories of a pilot avoiding the crowd and sacrificing himself, I personally knew one of them here in my hometown.
A drone pilot may not think or even care to avoid the crowd.
There is something lost without the human touch.

reply to post by g146541


Very true.. especially considering this toy helicopter will likely replace real piloted police helicopters. It's not that the operator wouldn't want to steer the aircraft away from people, it's that the lost link mean you have no idea where or what the drone will do. Given that their own tank got hit, I'd assume once you lose control of your drone policy should be to drop to the fetal position, or else hope you're in an armored car.

reply to post by Rockpuck


Actually I was referring to a mechanical failure.
But in these days of dropped calls, I don't know why I never thought of a simple lost signal.
Good angle you got there.

haha this is to great, even better then the drone spying on a shooting thing and gets shot down, if it didnt come down that day i wonder how long it would have been before someone shot it down?

Originally posted by xuenchen
More info from the article:

In the 2008 GAO study, Gerald Dillingham, Director of Civil Aviation for GAO said,

The GAO study found that 65% of drone crashes were caused by mechanical failures. The study analyzed Pentagon and NASA data on 199 crashes of drones on battlefields.

Isn't that an awful high figure of drone crashes? And would it be safe to say, if 65% were due to mechanical failures, would the other 35% be due to loss of signal, or is loss of signal inclusive to mechanical failure? If so, that begs another question, what is the reason for the other 35% of drone crashes?

Regardless, it is a priceless moment!