What would you do

[Jasontkennedy]

I had my P3A at a local polar bear swim event and some asshat
decided to throw a snowball or chunk of ice at it causing it to crash from
20-30 ft , there are cracks in the landing gear and the shell looks a little deformed where the seam is (between the top and bottom of the shell) . you can see the guy in the footage as the P3A is crashing.He has a green tumbler.
I caught up with him and he tried denying it , I finally got him to admit it and took a picture of his licence and got his phone number.he said he would pay for the damage. Now he is blowing me off what should i do.
here is the iPad video:

SkyPixel

 

[jonebk12]

I'd sue him in small claims court.

 

[m0j0]

Do you have a police report documenting the incident? If you don't call the police provide the information to them.

 

[flpholt]

file a police report and take him to court

 

[Jasontkennedy]

Do you have a police report documenting the incident? If you don't call the police provide the information to them.

I just called him and let him know that i am not playing games . I told him that i am going after the full value of a new one and i am filing a police report tomorrow and suing him for my time and legal fees etc. or just pay me for the parts and we can be done with it .

 

[flpholt]

how bad is it

 

[joe21]

file a police report and take him to court

Exactly. Don't threaten to do it, don't talk about doing it - just do it.

I couldn't see it in the video, but does it show the guy throwing the object? If so, that would certainly help your case.

On the other side, I always thought this is what was meant by it not being safe to fly over people. Seems to me that your bird is in more danger than the crowd. Hate to be the one to say this, but you are just asking for trouble flying that low over a crowd (trouble for the crowd or trouble for you). Depending on the judge/mediator you might expect a tongue-lashing in court (even if you do win a judgement).

Also make sure you were 100% legal to fly there. Put another way, make sure the other party can't produce something that states you aren't supposed to fly there.

Prove that you are registered. Although that can work against you since when you registered, you agreed to "not intentionally fly over unprotected persons or moving vehicles, and remain at least 25 feet away from individuals and vulnerable property." That may work against you - be prepared for that.

 

[exit 4]

No threats. Just do it. File the police report and the court suit. You can withdraw the suit when he pays. Don't settle for paying for the parts. He ruined it, he should replace it. You didn't have a damaged drone before he did what he did, you shouldn't have a damaged drone after his actions. Don't let him off easy. He intended to do damage or he would not have thrown ice at it.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

You can't really ask for a new one unless DJI calls it totalled. But you can at least sue for damages (parts and labor, the total cost of repair). As the others say, file a police report, file the suit.

 

[jonebk12]

Wow, after watching the video, that could have been REALLY bad. Who tries to knock anything out of the sky while it's suspended/hovering over a large group of people? Let alone a drone with spinning propellers. What a moron.

And before you file a police report, make sure you were in compliance with local, state and federal laws regarding flying over crowds/at sporting events.

 

[dirtybum]

No threats. Just do it. File the police report and the court suit. You can withdraw the suit when he pays. Don't settle for paying for the parts. He ruined it, he should replace it. You didn't have a damaged drone before he did what he did, you shouldn't have a damaged drone after his actions. Don't let him off easy. He intended to do damage or he would not have thrown ice at it.

That's 100% right, he intended to do damage or he wouldn't throne It! you should have your lawyer or yourself bring that up in claims court. He should pay for full amount of a full replacement there's no reason you should have to settle for flying a damaged one .The fact is something could be looser in there now and after he pays a small fee for damages you could have something come unsoldered because of the wreck and have it be a complete loss and he would've only paid for a portion, that's not fair to you.

 

[AirSpace2016]

Even if your not allowed to fly there he has caused damaged with intent...as well as a potential hazard to other people through his actions...

 

[souldronedlyer]

1. Is it legal or even sensible to fly your drone over a crowd?
2. I didn't see it. But did the video record the actual incident?
3. You can not sue for time spend. Only legal filing fee on small claim court.

If I were you. I will just call it bad luck to have your drone damage by some A-hole. I will also consider Good luck not hurting anyone below doing what you did.



Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[souldronedlyer]

That's 100% right, he intended to do damage or he wouldn't throne It! you should have your lawyer or yourself bring that up in claims court. He should pay for full amount of a full replacement there's no reason you should have to settle for flying a damaged one .The fact is something could be looser in there now and after he pays a small fee for damages you could have something come unsoldered because of the wreck and have it be a complete loss and he would've only paid for a portion, that's not fair to you.

Lawyer is not allow in small claim court.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Richard Walker]

I had my P3A at a local polar bear swim event and some asshat
decided to throw a snowball or chunk of ice at it causing it to crash from
20-30 ft , there are cracks in the landing gear and the shell looks a little deformed where the seam is (between the top and bottom of the shell) . you can see the guy in the footage as the P3A is crashing.He has a green tumbler.
I caught up with him and he tried denying it , I finally got him to admit it and took a picture of his licence and got his phone number.he said he would pay for the damage. Now he is blowing me off what should i do.
here is the iPad video:

SkyPixel

If I were you I would feel lucky if you are not fined for violation of basic safety rules of flying over a crowd of people. This is the kind of flying that is giving this hobby/sport/business a bad name.

 

[joe21]

Lawyer is not allow in small claim court.

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

That's only true in a few states. Most states you can have representation in small claims.

The problem is, it is almost never cost efficient. Small claims is designed to avoid attorneys.


Another problem is also enforcing judgements. If they losing party doesn't pay, you have to spend more money to enforce the judgement.

The low filing fee and inexpensive process makes it a viable avenue. Just don't get your hopes up too high.

 

[m0j0]

File a police report and take the guy to court. Getting a police report will cost you nothing. Going to court will. Tell him you are doing it and make him accountable for damaging your property. Then follow through on it. That is the best means to get him to pay for damaging your property. if you aren't going to follow through on it.. Get your bird fixed and avoid flying close enough to people that they would be able to hit it with a rock. In 70+ flights I have flown within 50 feet of a person only once by accident, I didn't know he was sitting behind his car, and even then when I realized what I was doing I moved away. I think filming strangers, even the appearance of filming strangers, is a risky thing to do and you can expect there to be at least one "tool in the shed." I truly try to stay away from people completely. I don't even like to launch it when there are bystanders nearby. You never know how people are going to react. Again there is always one "tool in the shed."

Good luck

 

[Choad McDaniel]

If I were you I would feel lucky if you are not fined for violation of basic safety rules of flying over a crowd of people. This is the kind of flying that is giving this hobby/sport/business a bad name.

 

[cdusher]

Certainly don't condone what was done, but I really question flying over people like that.
Tempting fate.
Not a good practice.
I should think that video could lead to a reckless endangerment charge.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I finally saw the video (link in the OP). He had no business knocking the bird out of the sky at all. And doing so over people, if it had hit someone, would have made him just as culpable as you in liability to that person, I would think. But you were flying all over the crowd -- that's definitely the first problem here. However, he should still pay damages.