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Thread: TX - Cop spy drone loses control and crashes into cop tank.

  1. #1

    Exclamation TX - Cop spy drone loses control and crashes into cop tank.

    Now, if that had crashed into a Mundane's car and got everybody killed, what do you think the response would have been?

    I swear, I can't make this $#@! up.


    Drone crashes into SWAT team tank during police test near Houston

    http://www.examiner.com/page-one-in-...#ixzz1oH30AFqv


    (Conroe, Montgomery County) -- A drone has crashed during a police test flight near Houston, adding to growing safety concerns as more police departments take flight with the unmanned aircraft.

    The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office north of Houston became one of the first police departments in the country to begin flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for police missions in October 2011.

    County officials and the maker of that drone confirmed on Friday that a recent police-only photo mission went terribly wrong.

    As the sheriff's SWAT team suited up with lots of firepower and their armored vehicle known as the "Bearcat," a prototype drone from Vanguard Defense Industries took off for pictures of all the police action. It was basically a photo opportunity, according to those in attendance.


    Vanguard CEO Michael Buscher said his company's prototype drone was flying about 18-feet off the ground when it lost contact with the controller's console on the ground. It's designed to go into an auto shutdown mode, according to Buscher, but when it was coming down the drone crashed into the SWAT team's armored vehicle.

    The damage was not severe, according to Buscher, who described only some 'blade strikes' on the prototype drone that was being shown off to the Montgomery County Sheriff's team.

    No word on what caused the drone to lose contact with the ground console.

    It's the exact scenario that was mentioned as a major concern when the Government Accountability Office studied the growing use of police drones in 2008.

    Ever since Houston Police were exposed in November 2007 on a secret test of drones for law enforcement, dozens of police agencies have applied for drones to be used on patrols throughout the country.

    Couple that with recent approval for private sector use of drones and pilots and government watchdogs have plenty of concerns.

    In the 2008 GAO study, Gerald Dillingham, Director of Civil Aviation for GAO said,

    "The concern is that you could lose control of that aircraft and it could crash into something on the ground or, in fact, it could crash into another air vehicle."

    The GAO study found that 65% of drone crashes were caused by mechanical failures. The study analyzed Pentagon and NASA data on 199 crashes of drones on battlefields.

    Before this Montgomery County crash, the only crash of a law enforcement drone was recorded in 2006 in Nogales, Arizona. The Customs & Border Protection flight crashed in the desert due to the same "lost link" scenario that sent the Montgomery County unit crashing into its SWAT team tank.

    When the link between the drone and the control console on the ground is lost, all drones are designed to steady up and glide to a landing. In some cases, the drones already have a location programmed in for landing in the event of a problem. In others, there is no such pre-determined landing zone.

    Dillingham said that's another dangerous problem with drones in urban areas. He said,

    "If you're onboard the aircraft, you can tell that you're in turbulence and you can maneuver to get the plane or the aircraft out of the turbulence. But if you're using a UAV and there are no sensors aboard, you don't really know that and, again, if you lose that communication link as a result of that turbulence or for any other reason, then you have an aircraft that is not in control and can, in fact, crash into something on the ground or another aircraft."

    The 73-page GAO study found 17-percent of the crashes studied were blamed on operator error and 12-percent were listed as unknown causes.

    Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Gage could not be reached for comment, nor could his chief deputy in charge of his drone program.

    Buscher said his prototype aircraft veered to the right when it lost communication with the groun unit, and he said it merely overshot its landing area a bit when the auto shutdown procedure kicked in.

    The drone that actually belongs to the Montgomery County Sheriff, which was unveiled in October 2011, was sitting nearby and was not damaged in the crash.

    Buscher said the drone that crashed was a different model from the ShadowHawk that was purchased for Montgomery County Sheriff's use in law enforcement. That unit cost $300,000 and the sheriff said Department of Homeland Security grant money was used.

    When Montgomery County unveiled its drone to the public, the sheriff and his staff boasted that it would help the SWAT team for any hostage standoff or other tense scene. Some members of the sheriff's department SWAT team had already expressed reservations about whether they really need a drone when their riles are aimed for real.

    Given how this first mission with their SWAT team ended, those skeptical deputies are unlikely to be converted into believers.
    Another mark of a tyrant is that he likes foreigners better than citizens, and lives with them and invites them to his table; for the one are enemies, but the Others enter into no rivalry with him. - Aristotle's Politics Book 5 Part 11



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  3. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    Now, if that had crashed into a Mundane's car and got everybody killed, what do you think the response would have been?
    Act of god. Accident. Meh, the tax payers will pay for restitution.

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    Now, if that had crashed into a Mundane's car and got everybody killed, what do you think the response would have been?
    Act of god. Accident. Meh, the tax payers will pay for restitution.

  5. #4
    Over use of technology can easily come back to bite you in the ass.
    Out of every one hundred men they send us, ten should not even be here. Eighty will do nothing but serve as targets for the enemy. Nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, upon them depends our success in battle. But one, ah the one, he is a real warrior, and he will bring the others back from battle alive.

    Duty is the most sublime word in the English language. Do your duty in all things. You can not do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less than your duty.

  6. #5
    SO is this the style of protect and serve we can now expect from the "police"?

    crashing model airplanes-its not just for middle school anymorez.


    BAN THESE $#@! TOYS FROM AMERICAN AIRSPACE NOW!

  7. #6

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Pericles View Post
    Over use of technology can easily come back to bite you in the ass.
    Counting on it.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    Now, if that had crashed into a Mundane's car and got everybody killed, what do you think the response would have been?

    Assaulting a Police Officer.



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  11. #9
    So... 2 things cops shouldnt have interacting with each other in ways they shouldnt.

  12. #10
    I am going to take this opportunity to reiterate what I posted in another thread: while the government may have lots of cool equipment and plenty of warm bodies on the payroll, it is, by and large, a pathetically inept organization to the point of being comedic. You can put Barny Fife in body armor and a kevlar helmet, give him an m16 and a drone, but he will still be Barny Fife.
    The proper concern of society is the preservation of individual freedom; the proper concern of the individual is the harmony of society.

    "Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow." - Byron

    "Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe." - Milton

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Acala View Post
    I am going to take this opportunity to reiterate what I posted in another thread: while the government may have lots of cool equipment and plenty of warm bodies on the payroll, it is, by and large, a pathetically inept organization to the point of being comedic. You can put Barny Fife in body armor and a kevlar helmet, give him an m16 and a drone, but he will still be Barny Fife.
    Exactly right. This is why the MIC is extremely dangerous-they have the money to farm out the creation of these insane weapons as well as competent people to operate them. Expect them to hire contractors to get this program "in place" as it were. More shades of Blackwater (XE).
    Quote Originally Posted by Torchbearer
    what works can never be discussed online. there is only one language the government understands, and until the people start speaking it by the magazine full... things will remain the same.
    Hear/buy my music here "government is the enemy of liberty"-RP Support me on Patreon here Ephesians 6:12

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by heavenlyboy34 View Post
    Exactly right. This is why the MIC is extremely dangerous-they have the money to farm out the creation of these insane weapons as well as competent people to operate them. Expect them to hire contractors to get this program "in place" as it were. More shades of Blackwater (XE).
    And this is why the coming collapse of the dollar is your friend. Mercenaries all have one thing in common - when the paychecks stop coming, they stop fighting. Patriots don't.
    The proper concern of society is the preservation of individual freedom; the proper concern of the individual is the harmony of society.

    "Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow." - Byron

    "Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe." - Milton

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Acala View Post
    And this is why the coming collapse of the dollar is your friend. Mercenaries all have one thing in common - when the paychecks stop coming, they stop fighting. Patriots don't.
    Can't disagree with that.
    Quote Originally Posted by Torchbearer
    what works can never be discussed online. there is only one language the government understands, and until the people start speaking it by the magazine full... things will remain the same.
    Hear/buy my music here "government is the enemy of liberty"-RP Support me on Patreon here Ephesians 6:12

  16. #14
    Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha

  17. #15
    "If you're onboard the aircraft, you can tell that you're in turbulence and you can maneuver to get the plane or the aircraft out of the turbulence. But if you're using a UAV and there are no sensors aboard, you don't really know that and, again,if you lose that communication link as a result of that turbulence
    or for any other reason, then you have an aircraft that is not in control and can, in fact, crash into something on the ground or another aircraft."
    truth



    THIS story is an example of why the big drones are not the future
    a comprehensive website about critical theory and how it's destroying our civilization: https://newdiscourses.com

  18. #16
    thats what happens when you eat donuts while trying to maneuver a drone by remote.



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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by JK/SEA View Post
    thats what happens when you eat donuts while trying to maneuver a drone by remote.
    You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to JK/SEA again.

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Acala View Post
    And this is why the coming collapse of the dollar is your friend. Mercenaries all have one thing in common - when the paychecks stop coming, they stop fighting. Patriots don't.
    Do you have a printing press or the world's gold in your vault underneath 33 liberty street (allegedly)? Ben S Bernanke does. Do you make legal tender laws? The State can.

    Unfortunately, I don't see the state not having the ability to pay their enforcers.

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by ghengis86 View Post
    Unfortunately, I don't see the state not having the ability to pay their enforcers.
    They'll get paid.

    They'll get paid in currency that the rest of us Mundanes will have long sinced ceased to see by that point.

    Food.

    Fuel.

    Transportation.

    Shelter.

    For the rest of us..."The scoops are on the way!!!"

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post

    For the rest of us..."The scoops are on the way!!!"
    nom nom nom... this tastes funny, but, hell, i'm starvin' and it's keeping me from starvin' to death. who cares what's in it?

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to JK/SEA again.
    dammit!...and i'm just 7 reps from a 3rd green bar!..

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Acala View Post
    I am going to take this opportunity to reiterate what I posted in another thread: while the government may have lots of cool equipment and plenty of warm bodies on the payroll, it is, by and large, a pathetically inept organization to the point of being comedic. You can put Barny Fife in body armor and a kevlar helmet, give him an m16 and a drone, but he will still be Barny Fife.
    He's a dangerous Barny Fife--good analogy because most of these government agents are afraid of their own shadows too, which makes them even more dangerous.
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

  26. #23
    thats weird. My lap top says i need ....update....6 reps, but my office computer says 4...oh well....>thankyou flightlesskiwi!

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by donnay View Post
    He's a dangerous Barny Fife--good analogy because most of these government agents are afraid of their own shadows too, which makes them even more dangerous.
    truth.



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  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Acala View Post
    I am going to take this opportunity to reiterate what I posted in another thread: while the government may have lots of cool equipment and plenty of warm bodies on the payroll, it is, by and large, a pathetically inept organization to the point of being comedic. You can put Barny Fife in body armor and a kevlar helmet, give him an m16 and a drone, but he will still be Barny Fife.
    You may depend upon it.
    Out of every one hundred men they send us, ten should not even be here. Eighty will do nothing but serve as targets for the enemy. Nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, upon them depends our success in battle. But one, ah the one, he is a real warrior, and he will bring the others back from battle alive.

    Duty is the most sublime word in the English language. Do your duty in all things. You can not do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less than your duty.

  30. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to JK/SEA again.
    Got you

    covered.
    Out of every one hundred men they send us, ten should not even be here. Eighty will do nothing but serve as targets for the enemy. Nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, upon them depends our success in battle. But one, ah the one, he is a real warrior, and he will bring the others back from battle alive.

    Duty is the most sublime word in the English language. Do your duty in all things. You can not do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less than your duty.

  31. #27
    If it hit a person, they probably would have went to their house to send half ass condolences to the family and then shoot their dog
    A society that places equality before freedom with get neither; A society that places freedom before equality will yield high degrees of both

    Make a move and plead the 5th because you can't plead the 1st

  32. #28
    Remember when we were all told we are all crazy for thinking drones would be in US airspace....................
    "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

  33. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by QuickZ06 View Post
    Remember when we were all told we are all crazy for thinking drones would be in US airspace....................
    Damn wackos.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  34. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by QuickZ06 View Post
    Remember when we were all told we are all crazy for thinking drones would be in US airspace....................
    It's quite humurous in a sick way. It's scary how much of the "conspiracy talk' coming from this site since back in 2007 have turned out to be true.

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