A Quebec woman is looking to press charges after a DJI Phantom 3 drone lost power and struck her on the top of the head.
Earlier this month, 38-year-old Stéphanie Creignou was sent to the hospital and suffered from a cervical sprain after the 2.6-pound drone fell from the sky and struck her while participating in a 5K run’s pre-race festivities.
VTOL-X Drones, which captured the above footage of the incident, told VAT News that Rosaire Turcotte was operating the drone that fell from the sky.
Despite owning a drone for over a year, Turcotte admitted to not owning a drone operator’s license, according to Flavio Martincowski of VTOL-X Drones, who questioned Turcotte when he noticed him flying dangerously close to the crowd of runners about to participate in the “Fun Run.”
As for how the incident occured, Turcotte told VAT News, “Everything was fine. And then suddenly, the drone is gone. I do not know what happened. I have zero explanation.”
The incident is currently being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, in what is believed to be the first time an injury has been caused by a drone crash. Since 2015, there have been no less than 89 drone incidents reported to the Board.
“This was an accident that could have easily been avoided … if the person flying the other drone would have followed the basic guidelines set by Transport Canada,” Martincowski told PetaPixel. He continued with a word of warning, saying, “drones are not toys — they are tools that could be very helpful to us all. But if misused, it could cause very serious injuries and possibly even death.”
Creignou claims to have missed work since the incident and her husband says the couple had to cancel their vacation due to doctor visits. Lawyers have been called and charges are possible.
