An FPV drone pilot captured GoPro footage of himself crashing his quadcopter and starting a field fire in Springfield, Oregon. An off-leash dog distracted the drone pilot, resulting in the quadcopter spiraling out of control. Once the drone crashed, it only took about three seconds to spark a fire. Footage of the drone starting a fire and an interview with the FPV drone pilot can be seen in this YouTube video by KEZI 9 News:
Since FPV drones are flown using a headset, the drone pilot was surprised when he spotted two unleashed dogs approaching him fast through the drone’s live video feed. One of the dogs became “overly friendly” and jumped up on the drone pilot, causing him to let go of the controller, reported The Register Guard.
Footage from GoPro shows a first person view of the drone starting a field field.
Once the FPV drone pilot realized he started a fire, he immediately called 911. The local fire department contained the field fire, but the quadcopter still ended up burning two acres.
FPV drone pilot
“I’m going to stay away from drier fields for sure during the dry season or anyplace else that seems like there is a potential fire danger,” said drone pilot Cameron Austin-Connolly in a KEZI 9 News interview. “I’m going to look into taking a fire extinguisher to take with me too, so I’m definitely going to take extra precaution moving forward.”
