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Seconds before disaster. (Photo: WTVR-TV)
It was going to happen sooner or later: An aimless drone spiraled out of control and barreled into a frightened crowd. The device was deployed by a Richmond, Va., television station (see update at bottom) to capture aerial footage of the city’s totally safe-sounding running of the bulls when it fell out of the sky.
A bystander captured video of the drone’s downfall that showed the flying robot zipping around before plummeting out of the sky and into the stands. “It just hit a dude in the face. ... That was crazy,” commented an astute announcer on Saturday.
Some people rushed to the aid of the dozen or so people sitting in the stands, while another cued up his drone emergency instincts and gamely placed the device off to the side. The Washington Post reports "four to five" people suffered minor injuries from the out-of-control drone.
The controversial day-long bull run event caught flack from critics for endangering humans and animals, but who would have thought a robot would have caused the real problem.
Update: Poynter has amended its story, saying that WTVR did not did not own the drone; it's unclear who did.
