Apple always draws a crowd – whether it’s with its Apple Developer Conferences, or a new iPhone (and buyers snake around buildings waiting to get their hands on one). But their new Apple Campus in Cupertino, California has been drawing eager drone pilots to get some pristine views of the ongoing construction. Well, it was bound to happen. Some bonehead crashed his drone into Apple’s HQ.
South Bay Apple Park enthusiast Matthew Roberts didn’t do it, but he has documented the construction of the building from the air with drones over the past year (very carefully, of course).
He managed to get the video of that ill-fated flight from the pilot who did the crashing (who is unnamed at this point). Roberts said the drone isn’t his. The footage shows the dummy drone surveying the building from the center outward. Then without warning, the drone goes into a wicked tailspin enough to probably make the pilot need to change his underwear.
Remember, Apple Park has a price tag of $5 BILLION DOLLARS. Ouch.
In Matt’s words:
“A drone crashed into Apple Park over the weekend. The drone pilot got in touch with me shortly after the incident to inquire if I could assist in locating the downed drone. I was happy to oblige, so I took a Phantom 4 Pro out and began searching for it. It was eventually located on the Solar Roof and appeared to be intact for the most part. The drone operator has gotten in touch with Apple and notified them of the drone crash and it remains to be seen, whether the operator will get his crashed drone back. Thanks to the drone operator for allowing me to use his footage from the crash.”
Think of that scenario. You’re white-knuckling your drone over one of the most expensive and beautiful pieces of architecture known to man and your drone starts freaking out. It gives new meaning to Want to Get Away?
The video picks up with Roberts drone flying over (safely and without dire consequences) to show the dummy drone stuck in the solar panels of Apple HQ.
You can bet Apple probably isn’t in a hurry to get up there and return the drone. However, it does resemble a pimple on the face of a international model, but we digress.
We’ll keep you posted on how this one ends. The first go around wasn’t pretty.