This video definitely opens the debate of whether or not flying drones in public places is a good idea after all. While it’s really hard to ignore the fact that these flying machines capture really wonderful pictures, it’s also true that they can be a real nuisance. After all, not everyone at the controls is a sensible individual. But sometimes people in general can get carried away with their impulses. Like this gentleman at the Crystal Pier at Pacific Beach in San Diego:
While the drone was hovering harmlessly at a distance, this fisherman, obviously got irked and decided to try his hand at catching a flying fish instead. And what a lucky cast!
Fisherman Catches a Drone
He managed to entangle the drone with the line. The drone operator, however, managed to salvage his drone and got it untangled to fly another day.
If you’re wondering what on earth he was doing spying on people at the pier, here’s your answer:
As you can see spying wasn’t the photographer’s intention at all.
So, what do you think? Was the fisherman right to do what he did? Or was the drone operator well within his rights to fly his drone and make images?
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uninteresting video making much out of very little?
word ‘drone’ on the internet as a video.
drone owner who thinks it’s cool to shot anything, go anywhere.
fisherman who is annoyed at this guy having more rights?
ugh… give me a break.
Agree with Blackripleydog about being upset if he found a drone hovering over his property. But this was a public place, not private property. From the short clip, the drone appears to be hovering high above the pier (notice how far away it was when it zooms out after getting hit by the fishing line), and not interfering with the fisherman’s fishing (notice how hard he had to cast his line to reach it). There’s a simple rule to this: it’s not okay to willfully damage someone else’s property in a public space (or anyplace for that matter). In my view the drone operator was fine – the fisherman had no valid reason to go after it the way he did other than to draw attention to himself. If he was really upset (for whatever reason) I’m betting the operator or police weren’t far away.
To add to what Blackripleydog and Michael Hoskins said – considering the final product, it doesn’t seem necessary to hover the drone around the fishermen and point the camera at them. That would be disconcerting with a human behind the camera, let alone a drone.
totally agree with Blackripleydog! If you have to hide away from people you will be suspected of being up to no good! By the way the Overhead shots are beautiful, BUT zooming in on isolated individuals is harassment and an invasion of privacy even if they are in public space.
The fisherman might of been a tad aggressive but the pilot was equally culpable.
Drones are a useful tool in the right applications. But I do not care how wonderful the pictures are that they capture, I still consider them an intrusion and an invasion of privacy especially since cameras are involved. Haven’t we learned anything from the NSA and phone traffic data mining.
If I found one hovering over my property without my permission, it’s coming down (12 gauge-style). There are just too many ways these things can be abused. The pilot should of been on the pier and visible to his intended subjects.