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Solo Crash at us open " More Bad Publicity Please Stop doing Stupid Thing Before They Ban Drones"

Posted by Todd Urban on September 3, 2015 at 9:22pm

3689665679?profile=originalhttp://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/tennis-busted-racquet/ufo-at-the-u-s--open--not-quite-033805691.html

The drone flew in from the east side of the stadium as No. 26 Flavia Pennetta defeated Monica Niculescu, 6-1, 6-4. Pennetta said later that she heard it flying around. At first, she thought it might be a bomb.

"A little bit scary, I have to say," Pennetta told ESPN. "With everything going on in the world ... I thought, 'OK, it's over.' That's how things happen."

The USTA later issued a press release saying no one was injured and that the New York City Police Department is investigating the incident. The drone broke into pieces when it crashed. The police and security went right over to it, then gave the all-clear to continue playing. 

"If there had been spectators, it would have hit them and done a lot of damage," Pennetta said. 

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Comments

  • Erik Graham September 4, 2015 at 6:07am
    I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually glad they arrested whoever it was. Lucky it was an early round match with no one watching.
  • Pedals2Paddles September 4, 2015 at 5:16am

    Update. The operator has been identified and arrested by NYPD.

  • Pedals2Paddles September 4, 2015 at 4:41am

    I would gladly help NYPD analyze the logs to determine who it belongs to.  This kind of idiocy is what ruins it for everyone.

  • benbojangles September 4, 2015 at 3:53am

    I heard it also had laser beams for eyeballs...

  • Rob September 4, 2015 at 3:12am

    as bad as flying there is - the article is *as usual* also full of crap to worsen things:

    "i thought it was a bomb" really? Must be a nuclear bomb even!. I wonder what happens when naked dudes run on stadiums, Bombs right? come on.

    "it exploded in pieces" the picture shows the Solo is in one piece.

    "it would have made a lot of damage if spectators were there".

    etc.

  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland September 4, 2015 at 1:30am

    Stupid is as stupid does..

  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer September 3, 2015 at 11:00pm

    Even the professionals struggle in stadiums, http://www.suasnews.com/2015/08/38134/loss-of-operator-control-invo... We forget this is high tech stuff that has to have various bits considered, like the RF link. Imagine.... lets take off from outside and drop down into stadium, what could go wrong. Loss of link RTL but through the stands. Not understanding the technology you are operating in the NAS is no excuse.

  • T3
    healthyfatboy September 3, 2015 at 10:12pm
    Couldn't you potentially get information from the computer that's in it to see what it was paired to? There are also very likely logs on it from when it was powered up at home after it was purchasd if those logs are recorded.
    On a lighter side of things, I take it Pennetta is happy no one was there to watch her win? Sounds like not many were there given the lack of spectators that thankfully were not hurt!
    Jokes aside, glad no one was hurt. Unfortunately, with the Solo available in stores everywhere, things like this will continue to happen, which is sad to see.
  • Darrell Burkey September 3, 2015 at 10:06pm

    Wouldn't it be nice if it had a registration number on it so that it could be tracked to the owner?

  • Developer
    Jason Short September 3, 2015 at 9:46pm

    At least he didn't have a gimbal yet. 

    Seriously though, the quick start guide says no stadiums for a reason. 

This reply was deleted.