Drones, Britains Next Air Disaster?
Earlier this week BBC Two aired a Horizon special documentary, ‘Britains Next Air Disaster? Drones?‘. Some might say the documentary is biased and the content is very much anti-drone. It’s fair to say this along with Panorama‘s ‘The Gatwick Drone Attack’ struck a nerve with DJI.
DJI has issued a letter claiming that the shows, “fall very short of informing and educating viewers in an impartial and accurate manner”. DJI goes on to say that “We have to assume this is because the BBC ultimately preferred to boost viewing figures by focusing on sensational, high-risk scenarios that are vanishingly rare or almost impossible, while ignoring evidence that drone technology is safe and that the drone industry itself has implemented various features to mitigate the risks described.”
DJI’s Director of Marketing and Corporate Communication Dr. Barbara Stelzner added: “The documentary almost exclusively focused on threats and risks posed by drones, and the general tone of the documentary was overwhelmingly negative, with the presenter frequently using the words ‘catastrophic’ and ‘terrifying’.
In one final nail in the coffin, DJI mention to the cooling effect on positive drone uses, adding “quite literally the BBC’s sensational false reporting on drone risks could itself cost lives.”
COPTRZ’s own Managing Director, Steve Coulson shared his views on the documentary, ‘As an organisation that provide both commercial drone solutions and counter drone systems we are always aware that there should be balance. Unfortunately, we found the documentary to seek to sensationalise for viewing figures and be very lazy with the science behind drones. The rest of Europe and the World are forging ahead with commercial drones strategies, documentaries like this mean the UK will be in the technological stone age in comparison.’
COPTRZ are keen to find out your thoughts on the documentary and DJI’s reaction?
