On Wednesday, Nov. 11, police showed up at the giant Ferris wheel near Seattle's waterfront after a flying drone was reported to have smashed into the wheel and plummeted onto the patio of a restaurant.
According to police spokesman Mark Jamieson, reports from the Great Wheel security personnel arrived at around 4:45 p.m. Officers who investigated the scene of the airborne accident noticed that the drone damaged a plastic table during its fall. The policemen confiscated the drone and noted that no human injuries took place.
The Seattle Great Wheel holds the record for the highest attraction of this type on the West Coast. It is 175 feet in height and it works uninterrupted throughout the year, at a capacity of 300 passengers per ride.
Jamieson noted that the authorities had no information about the pilot who crashed the drone, but they are actively searching for him.
"No one came forward while we were investigating; security didn't have any information when we were there," Jamieson declared, as cited by the Seattle Times.
Wayman Earls, the security manager of the attraction, reckons the perils of such an event.
"Anything that comes from that height, with that kind of weight, is going to do some damage," Earls said, according to KiroTV.
As safety procedures require, the workers stopped the wheel instantly and evaluated its condition. Michael Fuqua, one of the workers, said that the tourist attraction got a thorough check and no damage was found.
"We've gone through the cabins, looked for any type of broken glass, damage, we're up and going," Fuqua affirmed.
Luckily, the patio where the UAV crash landed was closed for the winter. The police identified the drone as a DJI Phantom 3. The device has self-stabilization and costs around $1,300.
It is not the first time that Seattle was involved in drone-related incidents. At the Pride Parade 2015 that took place during the summer, a drone crashed into a downtown building, recoiled and hit a 25-year-old woman in its fall.
The pilot of that unfortunate incident received a charge of reckless endangerment for the perilous use of an unmanned aerial vehicle.
To protect the citizens, the U.S. Department of Transportation asked for a law that will require all drone owners to register their devices. This should help track down the pilots who disobey the regulations involving UAVs or who pilot them in a dangerous fashion.
