But Doubleview filmmaker Ryan Chatfield’s extraordinary sprint to catch his remote controlled gadget before it plunged into the ocean is becoming the stuff of legend on YouTube.

The 34-year-old was filming the hazy sunset over Floreat beach on Monday night when disaster struck and the batteries died.

But he sprinted 200m along the beach, clambered over rocks and put his body on the line to snatch his drone to safety just 30cm before it hit the water.

“I’ve only had the drone for a couple of weeks and it was probably a rookie error, but I checked the battery and thought I’d have enough for the shot,” he said.

“Once the battery gets to a certain point it goes into reserve mode and you lose all control.

It goes up 15m and then begins to come down at a designated descend rate.

“I stood there dumbfounded and then I realised what was going to happen and I thought, “I better have a crack at this. This is do or die’.”