Next time you fly an RC Heli, think of this:
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:04 pm[Source: www.switched.com ]
Tiny model remote-control (RC) helicopters that fit in the palm of your hand are hugely popular right now, appearing on shelves at nearly every kind of store you can think of and generally selling for $20 or less. However, they are just cheap, miniaturized versions of more serious model helicopters that are larger, heavier, and, as a man in Hong Kong recently discovered, much more dangerous.
Lo Kwok-Wah was watching another man, Chan Man-king, fly a nearly $5,000 model RC helicopter around. Lo didn't like the way Chan was flying the device, thinking it was too low, and he shouted to him to move it away from people. Seconds later, the copter struck Lo in the head, causing a 20 centimeter gash. Lo now suffers from brain damage and is unable to move the limbs on the left side of his body. Chan was charged with "recklessly or negligently causing an aircraft to endanger a person," and was given a fine of about $900, the maximum offense he could be charged with in that country.
This is deifnitely something to think of the next time you head to the RC park.
Tiny model remote-control (RC) helicopters that fit in the palm of your hand are hugely popular right now, appearing on shelves at nearly every kind of store you can think of and generally selling for $20 or less. However, they are just cheap, miniaturized versions of more serious model helicopters that are larger, heavier, and, as a man in Hong Kong recently discovered, much more dangerous.
Lo Kwok-Wah was watching another man, Chan Man-king, fly a nearly $5,000 model RC helicopter around. Lo didn't like the way Chan was flying the device, thinking it was too low, and he shouted to him to move it away from people. Seconds later, the copter struck Lo in the head, causing a 20 centimeter gash. Lo now suffers from brain damage and is unable to move the limbs on the left side of his body. Chan was charged with "recklessly or negligently causing an aircraft to endanger a person," and was given a fine of about $900, the maximum offense he could be charged with in that country.
This is deifnitely something to think of the next time you head to the RC park.
