UAVMe/FacebookIs it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an Australian guy on a fishing trip.
When it comes to controlling a plane, a helicopter or a drone, I imagine there are a lot of different rules and regulations to follow.
However, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) aren’t actually sure whether this innovative fisherman broke any of them as attaching yourself to a drone in order to fish is, unsurprisingly, a first for Australia.
Check out a video of the invention here:
The CASA are investigating the footage after it was posted on social media earlier this month. It showed a man, identified in the video as Sam Foreman, gleefully flying over Upper Coliban Reservoir in central Victoria, with a beer slotted in the cup holder of his chair.
He cast his fishing line and could be seen reeling in a catch before the drone dropped him safely back on dry land. It’s unclear whether Foreman really did manage to catch a fish or whether the filmmakers staged the scene in order to prove the success of their creation but either way it looked like a fun time.
However, CASA spokesman Peter Gibson has warned against the stunt, telling ABC there were serious safety risks involved with what appeared in the footage.
He commented:
This is a first for Australia, to have a large homemade drone being used to lift someone off the ground.
It’s really not a sensible thing to do in any way, shape or form; there’s lots of things that could have gone wrong, someone could have been seriously injured.
For the person on the chair, the risk could be computer errors where the aircraft flies away, could be motor failures where the aircraft ends up in an uncontrollable state.
Best-case scenario is the battery sets die and it plonks straight into the water.
The group had clearly been committed to making their invention work, as a series of disastrous test-runs are also shown in the video. However, it’s unclear whether their efforts breached any aviation rules.
Gibson added:
It’ll take some time for us to gather the information, analyse all that, determine what the appropriate course of action is.
The spokesperson explained Australia’s drone safety regulations are under review at all times because of the way drones are changing.
Severe breaches of aviation regulations could result in penalties of more than $10,000 AUD (£5,500) in fines. Alternatively, the CASA could pursue court action.
Obviously putting your life in the hands of a homemade drone isn’t a good idea but if drone companies decided to pick up on the flying fisherman idea it could really revolutionise the hobby.
Watch this space!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.