Ditching Your Drone...On Purpose - 006
For National Drone Safety Awareness Week, November 16 - 22, 2020
It was a dream come true, flying a manned bush aircraft in Alaska. I traveled up via airline in November several years ago, yes I said November, not the height of tourist season. The reason was that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) was offering one of their stellar Flight Instructor Refresher Clinics (FIRC) and I needed a renewal class. Unfortunately I didn’t have my drone, so I missed the opportunity for some awesome shots.
Although I received a lot of grief from the locals for being there off season it was actually neat because it was an opportunity to meet the locals. One of the folks in the class, Chad, was a local fellow and had met him at a conference in North Carolina a couple of years before. He asked if I had planned on doing some flying while up and I admitted that my contact fell through. Graciously Chad offered to take a friend and myself in his Cessna 180 tail-dragger (little wheel on the tail of the aircraft) and we quickly accepted.
We traveled outside of Anchorage to Chad’s small, private, community airport that happened to be snow covered but still do-able without skis. The plan was to fly to the Knik Glacier and land at a little no-name gravel landing strip. We all piled into the aircraft and I was to ride in the back on the way up but up-front on the return trip. My friend got in and shut the door like every normal person would to which Chad’s face proceeded to turn beet red. He exclaimed, “You don’t need to shut the door that way, there’s no sense in slamming it!” We both looked at him shocked and sheepish, to which my friend apologized. Since we were new to knowing him I thought maybe he was just having a bad day and worthy of a pass for the outburst.
Chad went on to tell us how his father had purchased the aircraft in the 1950’s brand new from the Cessna factory in Wichita, Kansas and flew it up to Alaska himself. Sadly his father had passed away a couple of years prior and he had been taught to fly by his father in that aircraft and therefore had significant personal attachment to the aircraft. At this point my internal radar went off as to if he would be prepared to sacrifice the aircraft if it came down to brass tacks so to speak.
While it may be rare to have as much sentimental attachment to a drone aircraft as Chad to his aircraft, outside of it’s your first drone or handles great, the shear prospect of having to replace a drone may cause a drone pilot to act differently in an emergency situation. Drones can run thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, talk about your pucker factor. In my world replacing a thousand dollar drone would make for a really bad day. My office has drones that run $60K, crash one of those and it doesn’t look good on the old performance review, not to mention the grief you will get from co-workers. Having said that, it’s critical to have the mindset that if it comes down to safety, the drone must be sacrificed and the best way is to crash under control. The famous aviator Bob Hoover is known to say, “Fly it all the way through the crash.” I know this sounds funny but it’s solid advice.
Picking out alternative landing sites on a flight mission is important not only for landing under controlled circumstances but also under an emergency situation. Perhaps a crop-duster aircraft crest nearby trees, one of your alternate landing sites can come in handy. More commonly, the dreaded low battery when far away from base can benefit from an alternate landing site. Sure, the landing might not be pretty but safety will be ensured and you just might salvage the aircraft. Fixed wing aircraft can buy you a little more time but realize they are the minority in fleets.
I have a rule when flying, don’t fly over or near anything that you don’t want to crash into. Having said that I tend to be attached to water for some reason, so I take on the extra risk of the prospect of ditching in water. Unless you have one of those waterproof drones then it’s a deal breaker to ditch in water but can be the best place safety wise unless there are a multitude of boats in the area.
If you have the luxury of time when ditching is the time you have to plan the crash. Decisions typically come with a lot of time to plan and those that must be made in minutes or seconds. Stay away from people, as fragments may fly away from the aircraft. If exercising an emergency landing at home base ask for a larger buffer area for landing just in case the worst happens.
Parachutes are a great option if you can afford these systems. When it comes to chute systems, they shine when using quads, as a motor failure is typically catastrophic. However, in pre-emptive situations consider the famous Shakespeare quote, “to chute or not to chute, that is the question.” Ask yourself if the drone is in a position for a successful opening and where will the drone float down and land based on wind direction. Regardless of using a chute or not, it's always appropriate to warn people on the ground, if applicable, to take cover of an uncontrolled drone, this also should be included in the flight safety briefing.
When it comes down to it, drones are just a tool and you should always be ready to sacrifice your drone for safety sake.
TC Freeman is the Chief Instructor for the RemotePilotAssociation.com (RPA) and has a passion for helping recreational and commercial drone pilots learn to fly and earn FAA commercial Remote drone Pilot certification through live, hybrid or self-study courses.
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