How Many Aerospace Engineers Does it Take to Crash a Drone?

And start a 52-acre wildfire?

This past week along Colorado’s Front Range it’s been dry, warm, and windy—ideal conditions for fast-spreading, destructive wildfires.

Yesterday a bunch of yahoos “three researchers associated with the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Aerospace Engineering Department” were flying a drone when it “crashed at a high rate of speed into the ground, causing the lithium-ion battery to dislodge and ignite.”

The result was the 52-acre Table Mountain Fire in Boulder County, which required the evacuation of nearby neighborhoods.

The sheriff's office says the researchers were conducting severe weather studies.

lol

At least that’s what they told the deputies.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office also says the “researchers” were “flying within regulations and the flying capability of the craft” and that therefore no criminal charges will be filed.

So no worries. Besides, weather researchers and lithium batteries are gonna save the planet amirite?

Reader contest: Design a field sobriety test for drone pilots. Go!