9 votes

Drone operator stops Christmas Day bushfire waterbombing on Bruny Island

10 comments

  1. [2]
    J-Senior
    Link
    From Gatwick to this. Drones are far too easily available.

    From Gatwick to this. Drones are far too easily available.

    2 votes
    1. ruspaceni
      Link Parent
      FWIW, there wasn't even any confirmed sightings of the Gatwick drone. It's quite reasonable that it was just a hoax/ mistake and they erred on the side of caution.

      FWIW, there wasn't even any confirmed sightings of the Gatwick drone. It's quite reasonable that it was just a hoax/ mistake and they erred on the side of caution.

      3 votes
  2. [8]
    Diff
    Link
    Surprised there aren't any laws that enable them to like. Shoot down misbehaving drones or whatever when it comes to interfering with emergency operations like this.

    Surprised there aren't any laws that enable them to like. Shoot down misbehaving drones or whatever when it comes to interfering with emergency operations like this.

    1 vote
    1. [7]
      HutchinsonianDemon
      Link Parent
      From my understanding of it it's more that they don't want to risk missing the drone, because whatever goes up must come down....at a velocity that can severely injure or possibly kill people....

      From my understanding of it it's more that they don't want to risk missing the drone, because whatever goes up must come down....at a velocity that can severely injure or possibly kill people. Especially when these drone incidents happen in areas of high population density.

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        Diff
        Link Parent
        What do they use to shoot ducks and other Things That Fly™? I have exactly 0 idea what I'm talking about but I don't think a drone would deal with whatever that is very nicely. Or something...

        What do they use to shoot ducks and other Things That Fly™? I have exactly 0 idea what I'm talking about but I don't think a drone would deal with whatever that is very nicely. Or something harmless when falling but hazardous to things that spin, like string or a net.

        2 votes
        1. Algernon_Asimov
          Link Parent
          That might work in some situations, but remember that this article is talking about aircraft (specifically helicopters) trying to fight a bushfire. The middle of a bushfire isn't really optimum...

          What do they use to shoot ducks and other Things That Fly™? I have exactly 0 idea what I'm talking about but I don't think a drone would deal with whatever that is very nicely.

          That might work in some situations, but remember that this article is talking about aircraft (specifically helicopters) trying to fight a bushfire. The middle of a bushfire isn't really optimum conditions to try and go drone-hunting...

          4 votes
      2. [4]
        Algernon_Asimov
        Link Parent
        Actually, they don't want to risk hitting the drone. If an aircraft hits a drone mid-flight, it might do some damage to the aircraft (imagine the drone getting caught in a jet engine, or hitting...

        it's more that they don't want to risk missing the drone,

        Actually, they don't want to risk hitting the drone. If an aircraft hits a drone mid-flight, it might do some damage to the aircraft (imagine the drone getting caught in a jet engine, or hitting the blades of a helicopter), and might possibly even endanger the lives of the people in the aircraft. So, that means they have to ground all aircraft while there's a possibility of hitting a drone. This becomes extremely problematic when the aircraft being grounded is a water-bomber that's supposed to be helping to put out a bushfire.

        2 votes
        1. [3]
          Octofox
          Link Parent
          How do they deal with birds then?

          How do they deal with birds then?

          1 vote
          1. vakieh
            Link Parent
            Birds have far better spacial awareness and self-preservation instincts than drones - they're an issue for jets taking off and landing because they don't expect things on the ground to start...

            Birds have far better spacial awareness and self-preservation instincts than drones - they're an issue for jets taking off and landing because they don't expect things on the ground to start hitting ridiculous speeds, but they'll gladly avoid a plane in the air (again assuming the speeds aren't so far outside their frame of reference, which is a problem for jets, but not so much for water tankers).

            3 votes
          2. Algernon_Asimov
            Link Parent
            I don't know. I might imagine that the birds have already fled the bushfire. Or they're smaller and softer than metal-and-plastic drones, with a lower risk of damaging and aircraft.

            I don't know.

            I might imagine that the birds have already fled the bushfire. Or they're smaller and softer than metal-and-plastic drones, with a lower risk of damaging and aircraft.

            1 vote