[TheOtherCliff]

Just glad it wasn't a Phantom in the USA.

[rotary65]

I'm just glad that it wasn't a manned helicopter with a cameraman. Yet they're reportedly banning drones at all their races,  so that's exactly what will be taking the photos for them from now on; at least until they relax,  think it through,  and realize that drones are far (far,  far,  far) safer and much less expensive to operate.

[f5soh]

http://www.dfc.space/about/#ride-to-live-1

During the slalom race of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Madonna di Campiglio/Italy in the evening of 22 December 2015, an unmanned drone DFC-COPTER XR1 carrying a broadcast camera crashed into the snow during the second run of Austrian ski racer Marcel Hirscher.

The drone had been used to provide aerial shots of the slalom race, and was part of the host broadcast operation of Infront Sports & Media. The drone and the drone pilot have been provided by a third party service to Infront Sports & Media.

The initial technical report indicates a malfunction of the drone. According to the drone operating company, the most likely reason is a strong and unforeseen interference on the operating frequency, leading to limited operability. Detecting this, the pilot followed the official security procedure, purposely flying the drone as close as possible to the ground before releasing it. The aim was to destroy the drone, in order to prevent it from losing control.

We very much regret that this happened and especially that it was in close proximity to an athlete, in this case Marcel Hirscher. We are extremely relieved that no one was hurt and apologise once again to Marcel Hirscher, as well as to the FIS, the Austrian and Italian Ski Federations and the Local Organising Committee.

Infront has decided to mandate an external independent expert with a formal investigation of the matter.

For the time being, FIS and Infront have decided to refrain from using drones for broadcast purposes until a fully secured operation can be ensured.

http://www.infrontsports.com/news/2015/12/updated-statement-%E2%80%93-regarding-fis-alpine-ski-world-cup,-slalom-race,-on-22-december-2015/

[1morehobby]

Look what it is using for flight controller tho.

[hwh]

One of the selling points for their drone from the drone maker's website: "With the WKM, flying a multi-rotor will be as easy as driving a car. The pilot is released from the stress of controlling the multi-rotor and able to pay more attention to other tasks such as camera angle, instead of focus on flying."

Pay more attention to the camera angle instead of focusing on flying, that's a good safe way to fly. Actually, on a drone this big (their big configuration weighs 25kg/55 lbs) and flying in a populated area they really should be using the same procedures as the military, a pilot who flies the drone and an RSO (reconnaissance systems operator) that handles the camera.

Another thing that caught my eye on their website was the release date of their latest firmware/GCS, February 2014, almost 2 years ago.   Their software is so perfect that they haven't had to fix or improve anything in two years? 

[ArnhemAnt]

It's be really nice to know what actually caused the crash.

- pilot error
- equipment error
- ??

Regardless of how 'good' all this technology is, there is always going to be the chance of 'something' going wrong and things falling from the sky. All we can do, as operators/pilots, is try to minimise this risk.

[cato]

I think that they take a irresponsible high risk by operating a large multicopter plus camera with one person above hundreds or thousands of people. My observation here in Germany is: the hobbyist usually know their limits very well, while many professional camera people rely on the adverts of those companies, as whenever I see a multicopter flying above people, it's most likely a photo or video shoot.

[Daxo]

Omg, they are so dumb using this size of AP rig on slaloms, there's so many people focused around the track and then the track it self. If I was that guy making the time run I would be seriously pissed. The impact force of that rig weight from a 15-20 meters high drop would be far above 70kg, not to mention the carbon propellers. Does an healthy young  athlete really needs to be injured or scared for life because of this reckless ariel rig usage. Every AP has a very high risk of failing when operating around professional grade broadcast gear.

Sooo dumb and irresponsible.

[rotary65]

Keep it in perspective: if not flown with that drone,  a manned helicopter would likely replace it, mind you at a greater distance with zoom camera. Such helicopters have and do crash and people die in such crashes.

That said,  it's good to learn from such incidents to determine how the flight could have been done more safely. 

Accidents happen,  but only recently with drones does the minor become so major in the eyes of the media.