Photo: Facebook / UAV Me
Everyone loves an innovator but not when they don’t go through the proper paces and then also boast about it on social media. Or, at least, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) doesn’t, so it’s going after a bunch of dudes who designed and successfully tested a human lifting fishing drone.
A human lifting fishing drone is exactly what it sounds like: a large-size drone that can lift a human sitting in a chair, with the goal of helping him go fishing from high up in the air. The new design is a homemade project by UAV Me, aka Australia’s self-billed top drone specialist.
The team decided that, because there wasn’t a drone out there with such capabilities, they create their own. The project took longer and was harder than expected, but in the end, turned to be a success: they were able to attach a fisherman to the drone, which flew over the Upper Coliban Reservoir in central Victoria, Australia. Video of the feat was posted to social media where, as was to be expected, it went viral.
Well, it took CASA some time to catch up but catch up it did. An investigation into the stunt has been opened, and all those involved are facing heavy fines if they’re found in the wrong. As CASA spokesman Peter Gibson says for abc.net.au, while the feat was impressive, it was very risky and it sends the wrong message.
“This is a first for Australia, to have a large homemade drone being used to lift someone off the ground. It's really not a sensible thing to do in any way, shape or form; there's lots of things that could have gone wrong, someone could have been seriously injured,” Gibson says.
Right now, CASA is looking at all the evidence and will announce a conclusion at the end of the investigation. All those involved could pay fines of more than $10,000 or even face prison time.
“You see a lot of people flying over festivals and things like that, but being they're hobby grade-type components, stuff does go wrong a fair bit,” Gibson says of most people’s erroneous idea on how easy drones are to fly. “People don't tend to think about it.”
Drone training, licensing and auditing company Aviassist agrees with CASA on the issue of how dangerous such a stunt was, noting there was little to no quality control over the fishing drone. The designers themselves were not available for comment at the time this story got out.
The team decided that, because there wasn’t a drone out there with such capabilities, they create their own. The project took longer and was harder than expected, but in the end, turned to be a success: they were able to attach a fisherman to the drone, which flew over the Upper Coliban Reservoir in central Victoria, Australia. Video of the feat was posted to social media where, as was to be expected, it went viral.
Well, it took CASA some time to catch up but catch up it did. An investigation into the stunt has been opened, and all those involved are facing heavy fines if they’re found in the wrong. As CASA spokesman Peter Gibson says for abc.net.au, while the feat was impressive, it was very risky and it sends the wrong message.
“This is a first for Australia, to have a large homemade drone being used to lift someone off the ground. It's really not a sensible thing to do in any way, shape or form; there's lots of things that could have gone wrong, someone could have been seriously injured,” Gibson says.
Right now, CASA is looking at all the evidence and will announce a conclusion at the end of the investigation. All those involved could pay fines of more than $10,000 or even face prison time.
“You see a lot of people flying over festivals and things like that, but being they're hobby grade-type components, stuff does go wrong a fair bit,” Gibson says of most people’s erroneous idea on how easy drones are to fly. “People don't tend to think about it.”
Drone training, licensing and auditing company Aviassist agrees with CASA on the issue of how dangerous such a stunt was, noting there was little to no quality control over the fishing drone. The designers themselves were not available for comment at the time this story got out.
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