back to article I fought Ohm's Law and the law won: Drone crash takes out power to Silicon Valley homes

A wayward quadcopter is being blamed for a power outage in Google's back yard this week. The city of Mountain View said that a large portion of the city, including city hall and the central library, were without power from 8:15 to 11:00 Thursday night, as part of an outage that knocked out service to around 1,600 customers. …

  1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Happy

    Reward?

    ... for the capture of the free electron numpty.

    At least 10,000uF

  2. Eddy Ito

    "a white adult male with white hair who fled the scene in a white hatchback car"

    Was he at least wearing a white suit? I'm sure that would make him easier to find.

    1. SkippyBing

      'Was he at least wearing a white suit?'

      Would that make it a white collar crime?

      1. Mark York 3 Silver badge
        Black Helicopters

        Retirement Sucks.

        He should leave the flying to Stringfellow Hawke.

        http://airwolf.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Coldsmith-Briggs_III

      2. PNGuinn
        Black Helicopters

        Re: "Was he at least wearing a white suit?'

        But did he own a white cat?

        Enquiring minds ...

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Trollface

      "a white adult male with white hair who fled the scene in a white hatchback car"

      /me sings that one show-tune-like theme song from a recent 'Family Guy' episode...

    3. Mark 85

      Dear lord... they want to arrest Mr. Clean.

      1. Captain DaFt

        There's an APB out for Colonel Sanders.

        1. Charles 9

          Thought it was Doc Emmet Brown.

          1. Unicornpiss
            Boffin

            Just trying to harvest 1.21 GW..

            "It's a weather experiment!"

          2. Wensleydale Cheese

            "Thought it was Doc Emmet Brown."

            A consequence of too many speeding cameras.

            He's looking for a speed less than 88 mph.

        2. Mike Moyle

          "There's an APB out for Colonel Sanders."

          Well, his bird certainly got fried...

      2. keith_w

        Mr. Clean has a clean shaven head, so no, not him.

    4. choleric

      In the face of these charges and a high power investigation this live wire should ohm up and turn himself in. I reckon he will only be free far a day a or so more. Resistance is futile.

      His drone returned to earth already. So should he.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      How did Assange get from the embassy in London to the US?

    6. PNGuinn
      Black Helicopters

      Obligatory conspiracy theory

      "The damage of the drone crash totalled tens of thousands of dollars, and the repair work was completed early Friday morning," the city said.

      Personally, I would have said from those photos that the drone was already totally totalled and wasn't worth fixing.

      What are they not telling us?

      Hard to choose between this and the flames icon. I want to be able to use more than 1 icon! >>

    7. Trapper John

      California. I'm betting he was wearing pink feathers.

  3. MD Rackham

    "a white adult male with white hair who fled the scene in a white hatchback car"

    Police went on to say they have apprehended 4 black male suspects.

    1. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

      Police went on to say they have shot 4 black male suspects.

    2. PNGuinn
      Facepalm

      "Police went on to say they have apprehended 4 black male suspects"

      Sorry, Downvoted.

      With the normal expected level of police competence should that not have read "Police went on to say they have apprehended 4 black female suspects"?

      All of whom would have to have been carrying concealed loaded weapons or drugs. Or am I reading elReg too much these days?

    3. kain preacher

      Yes turns out all 4 black males were on lunch from NASA.

      pss Black people make up less than 3% in the area

  4. Brian Miller

    Who needs terrorism?

    Usually it's just the birds and squirrels that do this. But now we have to watch out for generic white people too.

    1. choleric

      Re: Who needs terrorism?

      Sounds like someone has been trying to to tipex the incident out already.

    2. I3N
      Flame

      Re: Who needs terrorism?

      Don't you mean "geriatric" white people?

  5. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
    Facepalm

    I'm sure he started off with innocent intentions, like trying to land the drone on a passing train.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ... and on these grounds we will apply to extradite Mr Assange to the USA

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      As soon I read "a white adult male with white hair", I thought of Assange too!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I thought of Emmett Lathrop "Doc" Brown, Ph.D.

        Odd how our minds work.

        1. Mike 16

          My brain coughed up Tom Wolfe, or maybe Andy Warhol. Although, if he was wearing a white suit, Alec Guinness should be in the running, for the surname alone.

          1. FuzzyWuzzys
            Alien

            Nah, it's Lester from This Island Earth.

          2. Mike Moyle

            John Sunlight?

            Yes. I'm old.

  7. Jeffrey Nonken

    No doubt they want to offer to recompense him for the damage done to his drone.

    1. 2Nick3

      Well, it is California, so it's a distinct possibility.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "a white adult male with white hair who fled the scene in a white hatchback car"

    The art of camouflage. His evil pseudonym is the chameleon.

  9. Elmer Phud

    Is it really . . .

    . . . that easy to take out so many Tesla chargers?

    Hmm, urban pranking goes large.

  10. John H Woods Silver badge

    Astonishing lack of robustness

    Good job we're not facing an epidemic of terrorism.

    1. Version 1.0 Silver badge

      Re: Astonishing lack of robustness

      It doesn't even require a drone - in the original Italian Job, the lad just threw a bicycle into the substation ... how times have changed.

      1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

        Re: threw a bicycle into the substation ... how times have changed

        The current method would involve 50 bicycles per second (60 in the US).

  11. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

    Taking the war home...

    This is what other people have to endure if the US blows up their whole power distribution infrastructure with carbon chaff because reasons.

    Only in that case it's permanent.

    1. kain preacher

      Re: Taking the war home...

      Um that would blow up Canada's power grid as the two are inter linked.

      1. Mike 16

        Re: Taking the war home...

        OTOH, IIRC, Texas has an independent power grid, because Texas.

        1. Orv Silver badge

          Re: Taking the war home...

          Yup. There's an east/west split and a separate Texas grid (although it doesn't precisely follow the state borders.) The three grids are not synced with each other, so power transfers between them have to be done via DC conversion.

          1. kain preacher

            Re: Taking the war home...

            In the US non of the power grids are linked.

  12. PNGuinn
    Trollface

    There are other terrestrial explainations ...

    Does anyone else think that this Amazon / Google rivalry is going a bit far?

    Or did someone get the delivery coordinates wrong?

    Or did someone order a drone and the broken winged messenger just delivered it in his normal manner as there was no one in?

  13. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Get used to it people

    With more any more numpties flying drones 'coz it is so cool' things like this are an inevitability.

    Sooner or later someone will get killed as a result on this so called 'fun' thing.

    1. Eddy Ito

      Re: Get used to it people

      Already used to it in Cali. There was one in West Hollyweird back in '15 and another in San Frisco in '16 so I suppose it was due although it's probably already a thing that has stopped being news if it only takes out one block or so and only bigger ones like this make the news now.

  14. chivo243 Silver badge

    Amazon take note

    I don't want my delivery fried in this fashion. I doubt your parachute in a packing label will avoid crashes like this one.

  15. Stevie

    Bah!

    And the more idiots who ignore common sense when playing with these stupid machines, the more ridiculously baroque the laws governing their use will become.

    So:

    DRONE OWNERS! STOP BLAMING THE LUMPEN NON-DRONE OWNERS FOR THE LAWS SPRINGING UP AROUND YOUR HOBBY AND START YELLING AT THE IDIOTS IN WITH THE IN-CROWD!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bah!

      Trouble is they are not the in-crowd no mater how much you shout.

      Most users who are part of the community are not connected to the "bought it fly it" users who probably saw some faked advert promising them "moving 4K selfies that will get them laid" and head on outside the house to give it a go.

      In the same way you as a licensed driver are not responsible for the drunk driver because he bought a car.

      1. Stevie

        Re: No True Scotsman

        Missed the point, powernumpty.

        So tgere are now two classes of drone owners? The ones who cause all the problems, and the ones who raise their hands and say "no one of us" while decrying how lumpen non-drone owners are calling for "unworkable" laws.

        Self-police the hobby by being more inclusive or suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous legal restraint.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Bah!

        You are involved every time you pay your insurance premium.

  16. EveryTime

    It's curious that the main rule quoted was flying too close to an airfield, which had little or nothing to do with the accident.

    They also all say "drone", when it was probably a regular R/C aircraft. I can't really tell from the picture of the charred remains of.. something. It's more likely a newspaper than a DJI quadcopter.

    I wonder how a presumably small craft could cause this much damage. Quadcopters are small and mostly non-conductive. Uninsulated power lines are widely spaced, and the equipment should be protected against brief overloads.

    1. patrickstar

      Usually when there's a fault on power lines of this magnitude, they are automatically re-engaged a couple of times to see if the obstruction has cleared itself (tree limb burning off, for example).

      So most likely is that the drone actually broke something - an insulator perhaps, or some HV switchgear.

    2. MachDiamond Silver badge

      "I wonder how a presumably small craft could cause this much damage. Quadcopters are small and mostly non-conductive. Uninsulated power lines are widely spaced, and the equipment should be protected against brief overloads."

      Carbon fiber is conductive and many small drones are made from CF. Also throw in the wirings, metal in the motors, etc.

      1. aberglas

        It is Bullshit

        Not tiny drone could destroy the grid. At the very worst trip breakers for a few seconds. And Think about the size and strength of the insulators compared to the few hundred grams of drone.

        OTOH, I once hit high tension wires with at glider winch launch cable. 1000 times more solid than a plastic drone. It made a huge explosion as the cable vaporized. But did not seem to do any permanent damage, although we thought it best not to inquire...

  17. Haku

    Manufacturer imposed NFZ's (No Fly Zones)

    DJI have been recently getting people to update their products to the newest apps & firmware.

    The update has introduced a whole heap of new NFZ's, which has apparently angered a lot of DJI product owners because they can't fly in the areas they used to be able to, often 'safe' areas, and once the new NFZ's are in the craft they can't currently be removed, so not everyone is updating.

    This is going to force some people to start looking at other manufacturer's offerings, notably ones with open source flight controllers that have no such imposed NFZ restrictions other than those you program into them, if you so wish.

    It'll also boost the currently growing market of people selling services to derestrict DJI craft, especially once someone figures out how to completely erase the NFZ's.

    1. MachDiamond Silver badge

      Re: Manufacturer imposed NFZ's (No Fly Zones)

      There are Open-Source copters if you are up to a little DIY.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Manufacturer imposed NFZ's (No Fly Zones)

      Do you mean no-fly zones are just there to annoy drone users, and not often for a good reason? Do you decide what is "safe" and what is not?

      It's this mindset that will make most drone users jerks which will need strong regulations and fines. People who like to fly very well understand the needs of following the rules. There's very little space for arrogant egoists, because they're simply very dangerous.

      Often, above my house, flies the air medical services helicopter because one of the waypoints along the corridor to reach the nearest hospital is jut a few hundreds meters away (and it flies already quite low because the hospital is close enough it's already approaching). Would you like someone buzzing his drone to take a good image of it while it's transporting you?

      1. Haku

        Re: Manufacturer imposed NFZ's (No Fly Zones)

        I'm saying that the NFZ's are over-reaching and forcing people to avoid updating their craft so their flight area isn't restricted beyond the law, or they'll look to getting craft that don't have those automatic restrictions built-in.

        For example, this user has pointed out the difference between DJI's new NFZ's and the US airspace in Hawaii, wth two map images: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=37706503&postcount=76488

        Trying to say it'll make most drone users jerks is an unfounded blanket assumption. Do I have to even mention that drones usually only make the news when something goes wrong whilst vast numbers of users are happily flying within the law and not causing any trouble?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Manufacturer imposed NFZ's (No Fly Zones)

          So drone pilots decide NZF are "over-reaching" because of course they know more and better, right? If you want a better view of airspace over Hawaii, please use FAA charts, or at least skyvector.com, and you'll see Oahu airspace is quite complex (https://skyvector.com/?ll=21.461796608405063,-157.9435757613748&chart=38&zoom=3). For example there are areas with parachuting activity, requiring to monitor a given radio frequency - drone pilots probably won't. Same for the warning about the high volume touristic traffic.

          There could be an issue if DJI supports only circular NFZ - in this case it has to err on the broader side. But it looks to be using AirMap geofencing - and it does use temporary restrictions as well, those you'd need NOTAMs advertising TFRs - temporary flight restrictions - to be aware of. So it may enforce NFZ you won't see on a standard chart.

          Flying carelessly into NFZ will make drone users look like jerks - will just lead to stronger regulations, and it will just damage exactly those happily flying abiding to the rules.

          Flying has always been a very cooperative environment, because, after all, if something goes wrong you have a good chance to die too. The issue with drones is you risk someone's else life, but not yours. Maybe each drone controller should have explosive inside - if the drone crashes, the controller blows up. It would make drone pilots more careful... <G>

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "this user has pointed out the difference between DJI's new NFZ's and the US airspace in Hawaii,"

          And he doesn't understand the difference between the various DJI zones, it looks, because probably he never RTFM (and when it comes to flying, that's very bad). See http://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-system

          The green areas are warning zones. DJI will allow you to "unlock" them. They are there because they have safety or other concerns. For example, a protected wildlife area will be indicated as such (and you shouldn't buzz around and disturb wildlife, especially in some periods, just to get a photo for Instagram). Using a drone there may not be forbidden by flying rules, but it could be forbidden by other laws (i.e. prisons). And often common sense may also suggest it's better to avoid it.

      2. 2Nick3

        Re: Manufacturer imposed NFZ's (No Fly Zones)

        "Do you decide what is "safe" and what is not?"

        "Do you decide what is "safe" and what is not?"

        I'm riding along in the car with a friend of mine, and he blows right through a red light - didn't even slow down! I said "Dude, you just ran a red light!" to which he replied "Yeah, I know." The next intersection we come to has a red light, and he goes right through it. Once again I exclaim "Dude, that was ANOTHER red light!!" "Don't worry about it," he says, "My brother does it all the time and there's never a problem." We get to the next intersection and the light is green, and he comes to a screeching halt! I say, "Dude! It's green, why are you stopping?"

        "Because my brother might be coming the other way."

        People who make up their own rules in a society tend to throw things off for everyone else. Most laws and rules have a very good reason for being there, even if you don't think they should apply to you.

        1. Haku

          Re: Manufacturer imposed NFZ's (No Fly Zones)

          It's a nice analogy, but in this case users are not required by law to update to the latest DJI firmware / app which imposes flight restrictions that go further than those set down by law.

          If I'm not mistaken, it seems a lot of non-drone owners are in favour of manufacturers implimenting flight area restrictions, however can you imagine their outcry if vehicle manufacturers started implimenting - without being required by law to do so - speed control based on their GPS location so you couldn't get your car to go over the speed limit for the particular road you're on?

          (yes yes I am aware of some very high performance cars that limit their top speed unless they detect you're at a racetrack but I don't think they have a variable top speed limit that corresponds to the road you're on)

  18. GrapeBunch

    Tragedy

    Sorry for all the good folks who suffered this power outage tragedy. On the slightly-less-tragic side of the coin, Silicon Valley. What could really make this not-so-bad-a-tragedy is if the perp turns out to be a patent troll lawyer or exec, recently relocated from Texas.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is no one else concerned with the soon to be 10s to 100s of thousands of drones that will soon be flying around?

    Do they think they'll be hack proof? Don't assume terrorists are be tech illiterate...

    I obviously support the drone database.

    1. Haku

      Tabloid scaremongering much?

      If you'd like to take your head out of your arse for a moment you'd see that terrorists have been resorting to far less complicated tactics such as vehicles driven into crowds.

      A drone database will only mean the police have a list of those who aren't likely to do stupid / dangerous / deadly things with drones, whereas those who are intent on causing mischief won't register.

      1. MachDiamond Silver badge

        "A drone database will only mean the police have a list of those who aren't likely to do stupid / dangerous / deadly things with drones, whereas those who are intent on causing mischief won't register."

        The Feds would have the database of the registration numbers not the local police although they could ask for a lookup if they recovered a craft after an accident. With so many people doing stupid things with copters, it's not a bad idea to have the requirement. Search YouTube for "Drone Fail" and you will see the tip of the iceberg of stupid. I recall an idiot that crashed his drone while flying around high-rises in NY and barely missed hitting somebody after is plummeted 20 stories. The guy is almost hit grabbed it and gave or sold the memory card from the camera to the local news. What the heck, the owner wasn't going to reclaim his property. Although, there are people that stupid.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wow

    Amazing that they managed to identify the drone from that lump of carbonised stuff without motors, arms, camera or anything recognisable as drone bits.

    What is the big metal looking thing? I suppose that that the flammable and potentially explosive Lipo battery that survived the fire.

    Hang on....

    If anyone can find me a higher res image I'd love to see it.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Having lived in the area in lhe late 90s my recollection was th\t you dion't need errant quad-copters to cause power outages (remember several in the 3 years I was there compared to the, I think, zero in the last 15 years back in the UK!) ... and despite a PGE spokesman reassuring everyone on the news that Californians had "the best electricty in the world" - this was after there'd been a outage that had taken out power from Canada down into Mexico and across as far as Texas

    1. Alister

      a PGE spokesman reassuring everyone on the news that Californians had "the best electricity in the world"

      Every Volt hand built by craftsmen.

  22. Cuddles

    Interesting regulations

    "any drone that is flown must remain clear of surrounding obstacles, per the FAA"

    You wouldn't have thought "don't crash into things" is the kind of rule that actually needs to be explicitly stated.

    1. Dominion

      Re: Interesting regulations

      You're kidding right? This is the US.....

  23. adam payne

    "Now the city is trying to track down the operator responsible for the crash. Witnesses at the scene describe a white adult male with white hair who fled the scene in a white hatchback car."

    Sounds like Doc Brown is back.

    Obviously a trial of his new drone time machine.

  24. Cynic_999

    What was the make of the drone?

    I want to avoid buying a product that obviously failed ESD tests.

  25. Nimby
    Trollface

    a white adult male with white hair who fled the scene in a white hatchback car

    This description is clearly racist!

    It was a beige Prius.

  26. NanoMeter

    Conspiracy Theory

    What if you want to break in to a place with cameras and burglar alarms? Wouldn't it be smart to take out the power of the whole neighbourhood?

    1. patrickstar

      Re: Conspiracy Theory

      Any half-assed alarm system will have battery backup. Though there is no guarantee that the batteries in a given system are fresh, it's hard to find that out without inside help. And kinda stupid to risk the penalties of bringing down power to the entire neighborhood just to find out.

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