I may be in the minority here, but I agree with the arrest. For one, the flight recorder information has already been released, and the drone never was below 190 feet, and was moving very quickly. It was not spying on his teenage daughters nor hovering 10 feet over his house, all of which has been claimed previously. You can watch the video of the flight recorder info here: http://www.wdrb.com/story/29670583/update-dro...s-produces-video-claiming-to-show-flight-path
You see that large field behind the Merideth's property? That's where they were flying, and they flew over their house (or maybe it's their friends? They were all in the back yard together). The flight data shows that they hit the edge of the property line and then the other side of it, exiting, in less than 2 seconds, at a height of 190 something feet.
I don't know anything about what is legal or not regarding shooting private aircraft like this, but judging by the recent explosion in popularity of flying these things, we're going to hear a lot about it. So far, every case I've heard has ruled against the shooters. If those Amazon delivery drones took off, you better believe there'd be few people siding with the shooters.
So as a father, I absolutely would side with someone shooting a drone of a peeping tom, or a peeping tom themselves even if they were on my property, but that isn't what happened here. He got arrested for discharging a firearm in a residential area, wanton endangerment, and that's clear cut. As to why he did it, it was in passion, but still wrong.
Realistically, it wouldn't blow the drone to pieces. However, it doesn't take much damage to destabilize a qaudracopter. If the shot managed to so much as damage one propeller it would go down. It also appears to travel a fair bit as it's crashing, so that's likely what happened.
I may be in the minority here, but I agree with the arrest. For one, the flight recorder information has already been released, and the drone never was below 190 feet, and was moving very quickly. It was not spying on his teenage daughters nor hovering 10 feet over his house, all of which has been claimed previously. You can watch the video of the flight recorder info here: http://www.wdrb.com/story/29670583/update-dro...s-produces-video-claiming-to-show-flight-path
You see that large field behind the Merideth's property? That's where they were flying, and they flew over their house (or maybe it's their friends? They were all in the back yard together). The flight data shows that they hit the edge of the property line and then the other side of it, exiting, in less than 2 seconds, at a height of 190 something feet.
I don't know anything about what is legal or not regarding shooting private aircraft like this, but judging by the recent explosion in popularity of flying these things, we're going to hear a lot about it. So far, every case I've heard has ruled against the shooters. If those Amazon delivery drones took off, you better believe there'd be few people siding with the shooters.
So as a father, I absolutely would side with someone shooting a drone of a peeping tom, or a peeping tom themselves even if they were on my property, but that isn't what happened here. He got arrested for discharging a firearm in a residential area, wanton endangerment, and that's clear cut. As to why he did it, it was in passion, but still wrong.
I'm not a hunter, my question is does bird shot have the range to carry enough force to shoot something out of the sky at a height of 190 feet?
Realistically, it wouldn't blow the drone to pieces. However, it doesn't take much damage to destabilize a qaudracopter. If the shot managed to so much as damage one propeller it would go down. It also appears to travel a fair bit as it's crashing, so that's likely what happened.
Thanks. It seemed liked quite a distance to make the shot but I never considered how fragile the drone might be.
No problem! I have slight familiarity with them, so I thought I'd offer any insight I can give.