When leaving home 19-year old Roman Pirozhek of New York must have never imagined that the radio-controlled helicopter he was planning to fly in a toy park in Brooklyn would eventually be his doom. Turns out, the young man lost control of the helicopter while flying it and it crashed into his head killing him. The helicopter was a rather large one and weighed 3 kilograms. After Roman lost control of it, the blades of the copter slashed his throat and scalped his head. The tragedy happened in the afternoon at the toy park, which is a popular haunt for enthusiasts of radio-controlled toys like the one Roman had.
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This incident would also serve as a warning for those, who have a passion for such toys. It is also really important that such toys come with stricter warnings now that such an incident has occurred. Why all of it happened is also something being widely speculated. It is believed that the incident might have occurred because of a mechanical failure, a weak signal or simply because the person flying it lost control. Experts have concluded that the young man might not even have had the time react as these aircrafts can lose control within a blink of an eye.
Ironically, it was the young man’s father Buddy, who had instilled in him the passion for flying toys. Little did the man know that the very thing he and his son were so passionate about would lead to such a tragedy. Buddy on his part has confirmed that his son was an excellent pilot and could carry out the most complex maneuvers with the aircraft.
Butch Ullbeck, who is a part of the club of flying enthusiasts that Roman was part of, is quoted as saying “Many people think that this toy, but it really is not a game – he said. – This is a highly accurate model, and they can be very dangerous.” The authorities in Brooklyn have decided to adopt caution and stop the use of these flying hazards in the park. This decision would possibly be in effect at least until the exact cause of Roman’s death is ascertained.
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It isn’t very frequently that accidents occur with these radio-controlled toys, but the social media is abuzz with stories and incidents of people, who have been badly hurt occasionally. It is therefore prudent to wear a helmet and other kinds of protection to avoid a mishap.
2 Comments on this Post
Tyler W
Before I begin, let me say that my heart goes out to the family of this young man. Whoever John is that wrote this article, obviously hasn’t spent much time around this kind of hobby. There are warnings all over the instructions manuals as the to hazards associated with flying RC helis. There are thousands of videos on youtube of people successfully enjoying this hobby. Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. We may never know if it was mechanical or pilot error or the wind might have caught it and pushed it to close. For the city to stop the use of them is typically stupid of New York. This is the same place that limits what kind of soda can be sold. While we’re talking safety, let’s just stop driving or doing anything else where accidents can occur. While I’m being sarcastic there, given the size of that helicopter, I would like to know how or why he let it get so close to him. That’s rule number 1 with these hobbys, give it plenty of distance at all times. Finally, the idea of wearing a helmet…really? Accidents can occur anywhere, should I also wear a full body suit when I go walking in case a car might hit me?
Bruce D
As someone involved in this hobby, I find it infuriating this amateur journalist repeatedly refers to these machines as toys, and then a “toy” park. Very unprofessional of him to be so condescending. The machine in the picture is probably 650 or 700 size and you won’t get much change from $1,500 buying the kit, not including the 8 channel transmitter you need to fly it.
The ignorant journo appears to think any unsuspecting person can pop down to the local toy store and bring one of these home fully assembled and ready to go – but be careful to read the warning on the box !!
Even being hit by a smaller, 550 sized machine’s blade at 2000RPM is akin to being hit by an axe.
Yes these big birds are potentially extremely dangerous, but he was just extraordinarily unlucky.
The suggestion to wear a helmet is stupid given the rarity of this event, as is the city’s knee-jerk reaction.