A review of the most common and outlandish drone fails around the web.
Author: Denisa Popescu
From crazy ‘’fails’’ such as putting a scarecrow mask on a drone or flying it into a pet’s mouth, to more common occurrences such as pilot error or strong winds, the internet is packed with funny shorts and compilations regarding drone fails and better believe it, I’ve seen it all!
Sure, drone fails might be a fun watch, but wrecking your $10,000 toy is not exactly worth the cool 15-second shot and the 15 minutes of fame, so in this article, I’m going to showcase the most common and not-so-common drone fails and give you some tips on how to avoid crashing your new gadget.
Lately, drone technology has become so advanced that most times an error occurs, it has to do with the pilot’s misuse of the device. This doesn’t always mean that the pilot abuses the drone until it crashes. Rather that he’s not aware of or adapted to its features and use.
After watching 6.182 drone fails, I’ve managed to divide them into categories and subcategories and, through that, hopefully also help you understand what not to do when flying your drone.
I will divide these drone fails into three categories:” most common,” “often happening,” and “Not so common, but it still occurred.”
We will start with the first category, which includes the most common fails seen throughout these videos.
I. Most Common Drone Fails (3.702 videos, 59.88%)
1. A mixture of bad weather, pilot error, and foreign objects (1.602 videos)
I’ve chosen to designate most of this category to this example. As specific as it sounds, this is a widespread and preventable occurrence. This subcategory encompasses approximately 59.88% of the videos from this category and 25.91% of all crashes.
You might think that a single factor can be pinpointed as the reason why your drone is failing, but most times, a mixture of bad weather, such as, for example, strong winds, pilot error, and foreign objects ranging from people to utility poles are all contributing factors to a crash, damaging enough to destroy your drone for good.
I’ve chosen to include all of the above in the same category because the crash, in this situation, has the same principle in all cases. Whether the drone crashes into a wall, a tree branch, or a person, the leading steps before the crash are almost always the same, even though the scenario might differ slightly. For example, whether the pilot error is linked to flying your drone backward or looking at the monitor instead of the drone, most times, the wind makes this slight error much worse, and it amplifies the chances for your drone crashing into something external with approximatively 70%.
The strong winds are a constant occurrence in all of these videos. I might say that in all of the drone fails filmed outside, no matter the category, the fails are somehow linked to the result. In my opinion, most crashes that happen outdoors correlate to windy weather.
There’s a reason why flying over a body of water occupies a whole category on my list. The stronger the wind and current, the more likely your drone will crash.
Like in the case of currents and winds, pilot error is most likely somehow linked to all crashes.
There are some situations where the person controlling the drone is reckless, such as sending the drone into overdrive or crashing it due to continuous loops.
Still, unsurprisingly, most videos that have something to do with a pilot error are based on a small and preventable mistake.
The table below shows you the most common pilot errors that lead to drone crashing. I’ve created this table in order for you to better understand what to avoid if you are a first-time flyer.
Videos showcasing pilot error 1.020 (16.49% of all videos) | |||
The number of videos in which it occurs |
Percentage – All videos |
Percentage – Pilot error videos |
|
Flying too close to the ground/ Flying too low | 190 | 3.07% | 18.62% |
Flying too close to the subject | 170 | 2.74% | 16. (6) % |
Loops | 120 | 1.94% | 11.76% |
Flying too high off the ground | 110 | 1.77% | 10.78 % |
Putting too much pressure on the drone and sending it into overdrive | 90 | 1.45% | 8.82% |
FPV (First Person Mode) | 90 | 1.45% | 8.82% |
Stationing the drone | 70 | 1.13% | 6.86% |
Looking at the monitor instead of the drone | 50 | 0.80% | 4.90% |
Sense of direction problems | 40 | 0.64% | 3.92% |
Flying through trees/grass etc | 40 | 0.64% | 3.92% |
Losing focus and flying backward | 30 | 0.48% | 2.94% |
Flying way too far and not having a sense of the drone anymore | 20 | 0.32% | 1.96% |
These errors combined with windy weather and a “targeted” subject call for a crash that will definitely destroy your drone. Still, they are easily preventable if you have accumulated some basic theoretical drone knowledge before piloting your first drone. Later on, in this article, I will give you some advice on how exactly to make sure that you are piloting your drone right, so keep on reading if you want to learn more about this matter, but for now, let’s get back to our topic and see which are the most probable foreign objects (subjects) that might wreck your drone.
Without further ado, here are the most frequently encountered objects and subjects in these drone fail videos.
Drones Crashing into subjects videos 582 (9.41% of all videos) | |||
Cause | The number of videos in which it occurs | Percentage – All videos | Percentage – Drones Crashing into subjects videos |
Trees/ground | 290 | 4.69% | 49.82% |
Wall/building | 90 | 1.45% | 15.46% |
Person | 80 | 1.29% | 13.74% |
Pets | 40 | 0.64% | 6.87% |
Rocks | 30 | 0.48% | 5.15% |
Home belongings (chair, table, etc.) | 30 | 0.48% | 5.15% |
Light poles | 10 | 0.16% | 1.71% |
Car door | 10 | 0.16% | 1.71% |
Cactus | 1 | 0.01% | 0.17% |
Golf finishing hole | 1 | 0.01% | 0.17% |
Here is also the corresponding pie chart:
