On my way back from activating Les Diablons HB/VS-079 a few days ago, I stumbled upon a crashed drone lying among the rocks on the south ridge at around 3500 m.
I couldn’t take it home as I didn’t have enough space in my backpack, and didn’t fancy the additional weight anyway, as at that point I was still considering doing another summit the same day, so I just saved the coordinates. Today I climbed back up there again (17 km round trip, 1900 m elevation gain) to retrieve the drone.
Turns out that the GoPro attached to it is still working, and has a video of the crash stored, as well as some other videos showing the owner and his friend playing with the drone. Judging by the snow cover, it must have happened last spring.
As the face images from the GoPro didn’t turn up any matches in the various reverse image/face search engines on the net, I’m hoping that the owner can be identified using the UAS operator ID on the label attached to the drone. I mean, certainly he can be identified – the question is just whether the authorities will bother with something as trivial as a lost toy drone.
Personally, I couldn’t care less about drones, and I actually find them mildly annoying, but it would be nice if I could at least return the camera and its recordings to the owner, so that this is about more than just clearing garbage from the mountains.
For your amusement, here is the video of the drone’s demise:
Thank you for the great effort you put into keeping the mountains clean! This summit looks amazing. I’m really looking forward to another activation together — hopefully in the near future!
You found an FPV drone, and from the footage, it looks like it may have had a single motor failure. The owner will be considerably out of pocket with the loss of the drone and the Go Pro, and very pleased to hear from you. As you have the reg number, you can contact the Swiss Civil aviation authority. They will pass on your details to the owner and hopefully reunite the drone with the owner.
Contact details for CAA in Switzerland:
Federal Office of Civil Aviation, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
FOCA reception in Ittigen is open Monday to Thursday between 8.30 and 11.30 and 14.00-16.00. Outside opening hours, visitors will only be admitted if announced in advance.
FOCA Switchboard
Monday-Friday, 8.30-11.30 and 14.00-16.00
Tel: +41 58 465 80 39
Thank you for taking the time to try and find the owner - appreciated from a fellow ham and FPV flyer.
You should be able to get a match. Not sure if there is a global DB (a public one at least). If the videos on the GoPro have any footage of the owner(s) speaking, you might be able to narrow the search down by their native tongue if they were visiting the country.
Aside from the mandatory ident stickers, I have QR codes with ‘scan me’ on them which point to contact details if my drone is lost/stolen/escaped and recovered.
The one in the photo isn’t a homebrew as such, more the chassis and DJI 04 (a lightweight camera module) and you add the bits on that you want to kit it out with.
They are cinenatic alternatives to the more mainstream brands, often you would see these used for stunt flights and racing but much smaller (they are super fun and a dangerous rabbit hole to venture in to!).
Thanks all – I had already contacted the Federal Office of Civil Aviation prior to my post, and they have been very helpful. After a small initial confusion on how to read the tattered label, they found a match in their database, and have contacted the registered operator. If they agree, we will be put in touch to arrange for the drone/camera to be returned.
I bought a DJI Mini Pro 6 recently (quite surprised as I thought there are banned in USA). I’ve kept the flight fence/box enabled and so it doesn’t wander further than I think I can see). Here a perfect use for a drone and radios.
Do you FPV with your Mini 6? I have a DJI Neo Mk1 (might upgrade to a Mk2 as they have additional sensors for flying over water). I’ve used it on trail runs and POTA as it packs in to my running pack or hiking bag really neatly. I 3D printed a hard shell slipcase for it and it works great.
FPV is super cool and lets you explore the places you visit from a novel and immersive perspective. Give someone who’s never used a drone before a DJI FPV helmet, a flight stick and set it to easy mode and see their reaction. Lots of fun!
Big fan of drones here so long as the people operating them are compliant with the rules and operate responsibly. There’s always a minority, like anything really, that spoil it for everyone.
I had a look at homebrewing a micro drone a while ago. You can 3D print the chassis and several components. Just add an 04, motors and battery and you’re pretty much all set. Still might give it a try perhaps next year, I’ve too many other projects on my plate at the minute!
Here’s two videos I made with my DJI Neo. It works great for a reasonably cheap, lightweight drone you can chuck in your pack.
Update: I just had a phone call with the owner/pilot; he was very pleased that somebody found his drone/camera and contacted him. He’ll come pick it up soon. He also said that the crash happened two years ago already. It’s amazing that the GoPro still works perfectly fine after such a long time under the open sky at 3500 m
achievement for nature protection during SOTA!
