While inspecting a cracked window at San Francisco’s tilting Millennium Tower, a drone fell from the sky nearly missing pedestrians below. The Millennium Tower’s homeowners association hired a drone pilot to take photos of a cracked window –however, during the aerial inspection, the drone lost satellite signal. Once the signal was lost, the drone was no longer under the pilot’s control. The drone drifted and hit another building across the street from the Millennium Tower. The drone crashed on the sidewalk below just missing several pedestrians walking by below. The homeowners association attorney said, “We’re trying to evaluate whether the titling [of the building] has anything to do with [the cracked window] but we’re also looking at all other aspects of it, structural, whether it’s part of the window assembly, the manufacturing process, the installation process.” The hope is that the drone footage (obtained before it crashed) will help experts determine what is causing the window to crack. The drone’s pilot had to launch the drone from three different locations due to interference with his GPS and satellite signals. Congested cities are often difficult to get a signal due to all of the high-rise buildings like the Millennium Tower. This is something to consider when conducting drone operations in cities.

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