Man decapitated by remote-controlled toy helicopter

These aren&#x27;t really &#x27;toys&#x27;. They stop being toys when you buy them from the model shop instead of the toy shop. Couple of incidents from my youth:<p>A good friend of mine had a couple of bones smashed in his ankle after a fairly innocent looking Yokomo MR4 TC ploughed into his leg at around 40mph. Hospital, static cast, crutches for 2 months. No prop and wasn&#x27;t even airborne.<p>Model rockets: these are the worst. I nearly killed someone with one after a fin snapped off (due to putting a E engine in a low D rated rocket) and it basically lost stability and went sideways missing someone&#x27;s face by literally 3 inches. It had to be dug out of the mud due to the impact force.<p>This particular chopper incident was probably the guy being an idiot. I&#x27;ve seen it before. They hover their choppers inverted and do stunt rolls about 6 feet away from their heads. One bit of wind or a miscalculation and this happens.<p>However, we shouldn&#x27;t stop playing with these things. We should just put safety first.

<i>Pirozek developed a YouTube channel where he would post footage of various tricks and flights using a Trex 700 model helicopter. In one video, he drops the $1,500 model from above, only to restart the rotor just inches from his head. The helicopter&#x27;s blade span measures 62 inches, its rotor spins at more than 2,000 rpm.</i><p>Well, that was fucking stupid. That&#x27;s a rude thing to say, but his youtube channel is full of comments along the lines of &#x27;he died doing what he loved...must have been something wrong with the helicopter, he was such a great pilot.&#x27; WTF.

This is very sad, and I feel for his loved ones. At the same time it&#x27;s worth pointing out that these things command respect and sensible caution, as it is with pretty much any other hobby.<p><pre><code> &gt; In one video, he drops the $1,500 model from above, only to restart the rotor &gt; just inches from his head.</code></pre>

My heart goes out to his family. It seems timely to point out that if you&#x27;re out there flying any size or type of model aircraft (as another posted, not fair to call it a &quot;toy&quot;) you should <i>seriously</i> consider joining the AMA[1].<p>It appears that this young man was a member and flying at a sanctioned location[2]. His family should receive $10,000 in death benefits from the club[3]. This hobby has the possibility for you to hurt yourself, someone else, or damage property and being a member provides a lot of benefits, even if you&#x27;re just out flying in a park in some cases.<p>I hope they remain safe in future activities and they don&#x27;t lose the right to fly.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.modelaircraft.org/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.modelaircraft.org&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2013/09/05/remote-control-helicopter-kills-man-in-brooklyn/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;blogs.wsj.com&#x2F;metropolis&#x2F;2013&#x2F;09&#x2F;05&#x2F;remote-control-he...</a><p>[3] <a href="http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/103.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.modelaircraft.org&#x2F;files&#x2F;103.pdf</a>

Yeah, that&#x27;s <i>not</i> a toy.

Ouch.<p>I was at a model meet as a kid when a 1&#x2F;10th scale plane careened into the crowd and sent a couple of people to the hospital but this is the first time I&#x27;ve read of an R&#x2F;C model killing someone.

Sad for his family but, as sad as it sounds, frankly its better that he didn&#x27;t take someone else&#x27;s life. These are dangerous toys and soon enough we&#x27;ll see heavy regulation.<p>I was surprised to learn that a lot of people are killed in Pakistan by kites <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4800004.stm" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.bbc.co.uk&#x2F;2&#x2F;hi&#x2F;south_asia&#x2F;4800004.stm</a>