Drone Strikes Seattle’s Great Wheel

Another day, another drone incident that continues to rack up reasons why drones should not be flown about wantonly by the public, especially those who are not all that skilled. Yesterday, we talked about how a police horse was suspected of bolting out in surprise to its death because it was startled by a drone. This time around, a drone was the confirmed culprit behind Seattle’s Great Wheel, shutting down the waterfront attraction afterwards. Thankfully, there were no injuries or anything worse that came out of it.

The drone struck the Great Wheel slightly after 4 p.m. as employees claimed that they heard a loud “thud”. The drone actually hit a plastic table that was located on an outdoor patio area. Michael Fuqua, one of the workers at the Great Wheel, shared, “I can’t figure out why somebody would fly a drone so close to other human beings. I don’t get it. I just don’t understand it.”

Following that, the Great Wheel staff duly passed the drone over to the Seattle Police Department, and the men in blue are currently on the hunt for the owner. It is exactly incidents like these that bring about a bad name for drones, and calls for regulation continue to grow ever louder.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: Drones