Goa, Iceland, California

Sheep, Snow, Fog, and a Drone Crash

February 20, 2020

A hard lesson learned.

My drone crashed a few weeks ago on a cold, foggy morning in the snowy wilds of Iceland. At the time I was filming a flock of sheep huddled on a ridge near Möðrudalur in the Northern Highlands desert.

Analysis of the flight data suggests it was an icing event. Freezing fog on the motors/propellers overloaded the motors and the speed controller eventually surrendered. The bird suffered multiple fractures in the landing gear and the body, the gimbal assembly came undone. As a consolation the SD card survived the drop.