Crash or Emergency Landing

Crashes can happen to anyone at any time. So far, so good—usually, it’s not that tragic. But it can become tragic if not all the debris is found and collected, or if the model is even lost.

For example, a broken propeller or other sharp-edged parts can inflict severe internal injuries on a cow. With such an injury, the cow would suffer terribly and die in agony. This can never be in the interest of a responsible model aviator. So: Carefully collect all debris and check to make sure no parts are missing.

However, it can become truly dangerous if the battery cannot be found even after an extended search. Farmers cultivate their fields and crops primarily with machinery such as mowers, hay tedders, plows, rotary tillers, harrows, threshers, straw balers, silage bale wrappers, etc.!

If a lost battery is picked up by one of these machines and damaged in the process, this can have serious consequences. It really does happen! After threshing the grain, a farmer picked up the straw along with the lost battery and compressed it into a straw bale. Unfortunately, the battery was damaged during this process. Unaware of the danger, the farmer

collected the straw bales and stored them in his barn.

As a result, the damaged battery caused a

smoldering fire, since there was apparently little oxygen inside the compressed straw bale. If the battery had been in an outer part of the bale, it would have triggered an open fire. Batteries, especially LiPos, pose a high risk due to their high

energy density. They have also caused several other fires in the past due to improper handling.

Therefore, if a battery, debris, or the model cannot be found, the following measures should be taken:

1. Use a drone to try to locate the crash site or the model.
2. If the search is unsuccessful, notify the club’s board of directors.
3. Assess the situation and inform the farmer. It is important to show the farmer the crash site.
4. The farmer must be informed of the risks. This will allow him to take appropriate measures.

For example, the farmer would certainly not store the two or three bales of straw in question in the barn, but rather in an outdoor area where a possible fire could not cause even greater damage.

Farms and their land are the livelihood of farmers and their entire families. Farmers work hard every day to run their operations and are grateful for help in preventing major damage. We model airplane pilots are “guests” on their land. Proper conduct in the unfortunate event of a crash or an emergency landing should go without saying for every pilot, and it also fosters good neighborly relations between the club and the farmer.