When your drone is boned, this parachute floats it safely back to earth

We’ve been talking about aerial drones a lot recently, and not only about the great photography you can achieve with them. There are also legal issues that are not entirely clear, as well as safety concerns. Take, for example, our report about this gorgeous video of fireworks filmed with a drone copter, where we argued that there’s no way to be sure the drone wouldn’t get hit and potentially crash into the crowd down below.

We’re certain that manufacturers make all kinds of efforts to guarantee that the operation of their devices is safe, and while we hope that drone operators take precautionary measures before flying their toys above Central Park, there’s still Murphy’s Law, which predicts that what potentially could go wrong, will go wrong. And this is especially true for all things technology.

In order to make flying aerial drones safer, DJI, maker of popular quadcopters like the Phantom 2, is currently developing a parachute system called DropSafe, which can be deployed instantly in a case of emergeny. DJI labels it as a “drop speed reduction system,” so as to make clear that they cannot guarantee a safe landing – or prevent damage to your gear or injuries caused by it – but only a reduced impact speed.

Attached to the top of the drone, the DropSafe parachute can be deployed either automatically or remotely, cutting off all power to the drone so it can smoothly land in style a la James Bond (although a Union Jack parachute is most likely not an option). Currently still under development, the lightweight parachute is designed to be reusable.

Honestly, we think that such a safety system should be a no-brainer, and don’t understand why it isn’t already standard issue with all drone copters. But maybe DJI’s DropSafe will set a new trend once it becomes available, and hopefully it will help put aerial drones in a better light with authorities. Below, you can watch a video that shows how DropSafe works.