Hundreds of drones plunge into Melbourne’s Yarra River

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-16/hundreds-of-drones-plunge-into-yarra-river/102607576

by richardjam73 • 3 years ago

70 38 3 years ago

abc.net.au

sand500• 3 years ago

Still probably safer than the alternative of fireworks.

defrost• 3 years ago

Much safer than showing off your new old flying boat you don't have the air hours in just before an Australian fireworks | drone show . . .

Grumman G-73 Mallard (built 1948) stalls, falls out of sky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p3CbKfMkE4

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-26/two-dead-in-australia...

latchkey2• 3 years ago

... and I'm not having to hold my poor dog in my arms for hours while he shakes uncontrollably.

pengaru• 3 years ago

Reminds me of a time I was in a cafe when some kids shot off a bunch of firecrackers and an elderly woman sitting near me had a panic attack

After she calmed down I learned she'd lived through the bombing of Dresden :/

yetihehe2• 3 years ago

There are sedative drops for such cases. Thankfully my dog likes to stare at fireworks so I don't have to use them.

bluescrn2• 3 years ago

If bans are the solution to every problem, maybe ban pets?

Would avoid some CO2 emissions and poop on pavements, too…

Towaway693• 3 years ago

I doubt that. Fireworks are dangerous when used by inexperienced people, drones suffer the same disadvantage.

In this case the drones had enough power to land, what if they had instant power failure? Then they would turn into bricks suspended in mid air. That can't happen with fireworks, they are simply too light when in the air.

I live in a place where every new years it turns into a warzone with people firing off massive amount of fireworks. Death rate is basically zero, some burns and injuries but in the teens. City has a population of ca. 4mil - that's safer than alcohol.

If everyone had a drone it would be chaos... Incomparably dangerous.

hparadiz• 3 years ago

I'll just leave this here...

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-05/fourth-o...

mutant_glofish• 3 years ago

And even if that's true, safety isn't everything. We must reject safetyism. Fireworks are lindy [1], exciting and splendidly spectacular. Most drone shows I've seen are mediocre at best.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect

ivan_gammel3• 3 years ago

Your city looks very much like Berlin. It’s definitely not a good example of how fireworks are better than drone show. Spending new year holidays in Berlin is a nightmare, especially with pets or small children. Half of the city looks like a war zone on 1st of January.

meling• 3 years ago

The worst injury is blindness or partial blindness (happens to about 10-20 people every new years celebration in Norway)… accidents can happen, but fireworks in the hands of drunk people is a bad combination.

LatteLazy• 3 years ago

Not as much fun though.

thefurdrake• 3 years ago

I think we should put the fireworks on the drones for the ultimate safety combo.

johnthesecure• 3 years ago

Surprising to see the crash (or controlled) landing described as auto-rotation.

mianos• 3 years ago

Considering the size and momentum of drone props, this is not in any way whatsoever auto-rotations. It's just some rando trying to sound technical. Considering they don't have collective or clutches as well he just sounds like a dumbass. (Or maybe I am and they called auto landing auto-rotation since I stopped building drones myself about 2 years ago).

andrewstuart• 3 years ago

In other countries there’s startlingly impressive drone show displays.

In Australia they fall out of the sky and drop into the Yarra.

It’s a sort of metaphor for Australia in so many ways.

bottled_poe• 3 years ago

It’s hilarious and embarrassing. It would be nice to see some interest in diversifying the economy over here, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

andrewinardeer• 3 years ago

I want to read the post mortem on this technical failure but I doubt 'The Australian Traffic Network' who controlled this drone shiw will release it.

stubish• 3 years ago

It was a trial run for the Moomba Birdman Rally.

rasz• 3 years ago

18 months that we've been in the business ... We've done hundreds and hundreds of shows across the country and some parts of different countries

"hundreds and hundreds" is at least 200, did they really run shows every two days on average?

Hundreds of drones plunge into Melbourne’s Yarra River

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