Man falls to his death at Hawk’s Nest in effort to retrieve crashed drone
On Tuesday, a drone pilot from Sullivan County, NY fell to his death at Hawk's Nest, a scenic location outside Port Jervis, NY high above the Delaware River, in an effort to retrieve his crashed drone.
Update 4/12/22: Removed referenced comment
A crashed drone is not worth risking your life for
Binh Ledinh, 42, of Lumberland, NY was flying a drone on Route 97 at Hawk's Nest during the early morning hours of Tuesday, Police said.
The drone crashed 17 feet down an embankment around 7:30 am. Ledinh tried to recover the unmanned aircraft and fell about 250 feet.
His wife made a call to the state police in Wurtsboro at about noon to report him missing.
At around 1:45 p.m., Ledinh's car, a 2010 Honda CRV, was discovered at the Hawk's Nest, and he was soon located.
The Orange County Technical Rescue Team was called in to assist, and they lowered themselves down to the man and determined that he was dead. He could not be reached by foot owing to the rough terrain, so the team lowered itself to him and confirmed his death.
Leland's body was then lowered into a rescue boat in the Delaware River, where he was taken to the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office.
State police were aided at the scene by the Sparrow Bush Fire Department, Port Jervis Fire Department, Ambulance, Matamoras Fire Department, Huguenot Fire Department, Lumberland Fire Department, Orange County Technical Rescue Team, Port Jervis EMS and Mobil
You can read more stories about incidents involving drones here on DroneXL.
Photo credits: Wikipedia. Hat tip to R. Rosenbaum for alerting us to this tragic story
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Haye Kesteloo
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I respectfully request that you take down this entire post or remove the vile comment that you’ve reposted and by doing so, amplified. Binh was one of my best friends the situation is painful and awful enough without having to read that disgusting comment. And I would suggest that you consider not reposting such filth in the future. Thank you in advance.
Also it’s worth noting that while his accident is confusing and we will never know exactly how he fell, one thing is certain – there is no chance whatsoever that he tried to retrieve the drone. No one in their right mind would do so given how treacherous that drop off is. Shame on the police for suggesting that he did. My friend was intelligent AND had a fear of heights. He somehow fell trying to see if there was a reasonable way to retrieve the drone, which very clearly there is not.
The comment has been removed. We’re very sorry for your loss.