An Amazon May Have Crashed A Drone Into Seattle's Space Needle

[onehandle]

Police came knocking on an Amazon employee's hotel door on Tuesday after he used his drone to capture video of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington, and gave him a "crash course" in Seattle's history with drones.

According to some reports, the drone crashed into the needle, but the video doesn't show evidence of that, and neither does any part of the building. Police identified the Amazon employee after being notified about the drone by Space Needle security, but neither party seemed too concerned by the incident.

The man told police he was employed by Amazon and was visiting the company's headquarters from out of town, according to the Seattle Police Department's blog. After speaking with police, he agreed not to fly around the white quad-propeller he purchased at a "hobby shop" (that means it's not an Amazon drone, folks.) The city police's own drone program was terminated last year.

The legal status of drones in the U.S. is murky right now, but according to the Federal Aviation Administration, only hobbyists are granted some freedoms with flying drones — as long as they don't fly the drones above 400 feet or near populated areas. The Space Needle's observation deck stands at 520 feet, which exceeds that limit.

http://mashable.com/2014/07/25/amazon-drone-space-needle

Amazon's drone play is nothing more than a PR stunt anyway.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Like the article said: It wasn't an Amazon drone.

An Amazon employee purchased a radio-controlled aircraft from a hobby shop and used it in airspace where it shouldn't have been. RC aircraft have been available for many years and flying them is a hobby for many people. Calling them "drones" doesn't turn these toys (and that's what they are) into something sinister and evil. Amazon doesn't have "drone privileges," since using unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes is still illegal. What happened here was that an Amazon employee - not Amazon - did something dumb with his toy.

[onehandle]

2. Yeah, but it doesn't help Amazon's fake campaign to deliver with drones.

It was impossible before.

Beyond impossible now.

[randome]

3. It's an interesting idea that can't possibly work in the real world.

Power failures, loss of control, bird strikes, anything can happen to crash a drone which, in turn, can lead to someone losing their life in the street below.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The night is always young. It's never too late.[/center][/font][hr]

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. It was never going to work,

but I doubt that a foolish employee misusing his own toy helicopter will have the slightest effect on whether or not it works.

It won't work even if the FAA approves commercial uses for drones - and I think they will before long, but only for limited purposes that don't involve significant risks to the public or other aircraft. Delivering Amazon items using drones, however, would involve thousands of those things buzzing all over the place, probably colliding with each other, and with buildings, people, and even airplanes; crashing on the street, and generally leaving chaos and wreckage in their path. It won't work because it's dangerous.

[Dreamer Tatum]

5. Won't be happy until there's only one company in the world, will you?

All hail Apple!

[hunter]

6. I used to do some wicked things with kites...

... even launching an Estes rocket from one. I tried a bit of photography. Dozens of plastic toy paratroopers were lost in my kite experiments.

Was I a terrorist or just a kid running with scissors? Someone could lose an eye!

These little electric helicopters are more equivalent to kites than remote control airplanes even.

They are not equivalent to military "drones."

Somebody's little toy may have hit the Space Needle. OH NO! Call the POLICE!



The world is getting weird.

On the other hand, if the toy was being used by a peeping tom, to peer into windows, there would be witnesses and evidence, and reason enough for the police to act. Still, something like a peeping tom hiding in a tree with a camera and telephoto lens is more dangerous than a toy. A peeping tom could fall out of the tree and do some serious damage to an innocent person below.

I'm in favor of banning these little toys in national parks, but only because the buzzing noise is irritating and unnatural. I'd also ban cars and other vehicles from national parks; those are even worse.

[DocwillCuNow]

7. I have some drones flying around my house, they have dug holes in front of the

rear porch and the front one as well. Funny to see them carrying a cicada, large or small through the air looking for the entrance to their underground nest. Pic of them, then a pic of what they fly with, and this is a SMALL cicada, I have seen them with larger versions and I often think they resemble a hummingbird when they are carrying one. Wife is allergic to bee stings and one of these might land her in the ER.

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Yes that is a standard business card for size...

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They fly with these in their grasp albeit somewhat strained but what a display of aerial strength and skill. It's sort of like the passenger plane carrying the space shuttle in reverse (plane on top)

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