Disasters can happen when people launch an unmanned flying gadget like a drone without knowing how to really control it. 1[■] A falling drone can do serious damage to buildings and people.
One terrible accident happened when an operator lost control of a drone. The drone pilot was flying the gadget by his home when its rotors (旋翼) hit tree. The drone went out of control, falling into neighbour’s backyard where a young child was playing. The rotors were still spinning fast and a blade struck the child. 2[■]
Sometimes drones can just fly away quickly or drift away with the wind for many different reasons. The software that has been loaded into the drone could break down, or the global positioning system (gps) could be faulty. 3[■] Drone makers are trying to work out ways to stop these things happening.
4[■] People have tried to catch them in giant nets, but this can cause more problems than the rogue drone itself. In some countries, eagles are taught to identify drone as prey. Then they swoop down and grab the drone from the sky with their long, strong claws. When they take the drone to a safe place, they are rewarded for their efforts.
Drones can be harmful, having caused a lot of serious damage to buildings and people. 5[■] At a sports event, drones can be used to give spectators a view from above or help coaches see how their players are doing. They are also becoming a useful tool for firefighters, helping them spot wildfires and even assisting to fight them. Drones can spy on populations of animals in the wild, especially endangered ones. In some very remote places in the world, drones are the fastest way to deliver medicine to people who need it desperately.