Boating/Drinking in Tampa Bay, Beercan Island 08-29-15

In all honesty, the video should upset people more than it seems to be, but I attribute that simply to lack of understanding of the seriousness of the safety violations in it.

Sure, mblitch may have been more harsh than needed, but what the OP did with their quadcopter was unsafe in MANY ways. And not in a mild unsafe way, but a "shit, you could have seriously injured or killed someone" way. It is understandable that it would have pissed someone off who is actively involved in addressing issues surrounding consumer drone flight.

The DJI Phantom 3 is not a novelty toy. It's props can tear through skin like a knife in butter. Flying as close as they did in the video could have resulted in some nasty, life-lasting injuries to the partiers. Flying that close to the side and overhead should never be done. Flying over, around, or across an airport is not only unsafe, but illegal. As in, fines and potential jail time. If a plane of any size were to strike the drone while landing or flying, the pilot could very well lose control in some fashion and crash as a result. Injury, maiming, death. It's a no-go, period.

Worst part is, the DJI Phantom 3 should have restrictions in place to help prevent it. The reason it wasn't used is likely either purely from lack of even attempting to read written instructions and warnings prior to flight or deliberately ignoring the options for sake of capturing video where the pilot wanted to. Ignorance does not remove one from responsibility.

While I'm glad the OP is excited to fly his drone and share his videos with others, his actions were extremely unsafe. It is pilots like him who ultimately will cause more seasoned, law-abiding pilots to be screwed over when the government puts stricter regulations in place. All done simply to mitigate those problems caused by the few idiots who don't understand that an unmanned aerial vehicle like the DJI Phantom 3 is a serious piece of equipment and not just a toy.

Hopefully OP has learned some stuff as a result of mblitch's comments. Even if it was harsh.

/r/tampa Thread Parent Link - vimeo.com