At the World Cup in Italy last night, a camera drone crashed just behind skier Marcel Hirscher during a slalom. Race director Markus Waldner told The Associated Press that drones will be prohibited “as long as I am responsible …. because they are a bad thing for safety.”
The unmanned flying object carrying a TV camera came down and shattered on the icy slope just behind Hirscher during Tuesday night’s race in Madonna di Campiglio. The four-time overall champion was unhurt and continued his run, finishing second behind Norwegian winner Henrik Kristoffersen.
“It was huge luck that Marcel was not hurt,” Waldner said. “I am very angry.”
The company responsible for the camera drone, sports-marketing agency Infront, said in a statement that “the circumstances leading to [the crash] are currently being examined.”
As for Hirsher, he later tweeted about the incident with the hashtag #luckyme.
and you wonder why many want to see stronger regulation. It is not the drone it is how people are using them. Keep in mind if a drone falls from the sky (for any reason, failure or operator) in the desert and no one sees it who cares. Let one get near an aircraft or crash near a person and get it on video it will become front page (old saying) news.
I totally agree that drones should be prohibited from events such as this. In many cases these professional skiers have their livelihood riding on these races. Same for Olympic events. Thanks…….NCB