Ski federation bans drones after camera nearly hits racer

The defending overall world champion appeared not to notice as a drone carrying a television camera plummeted and crashed into the course just behind him. “I’m not hurt and I was lucky”, he said.

In a press conference after his descent reported by the New York Times, Hirscher said of a something he’d sensed immediately behind him: “I didn’t know what it was, but I felt something”.

The company responsible for the camera drone, sports marketing agency Infront, said it was still examining the crash.

“Detecting this, the pilot followed the official security procedure, purposely flying the drone as close as possible to the ground before releasing it. The aim was to destroy the drone, in order to prevent it from losing control”.

Infront said the drone and its pilot were provided by a third party, adding that an external independent expert will formally investigate the matter.

Overall World Cup leader Hirscher finished in second place behind Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen and joked that he’d had an early Christmas present.

Drones have been used often at global ski races in the past.

Representatives from many of Colorado’s most popular ski resorts say the prospect of drones flying unrestricted on their slopes raises serious health concerns, including the distraction of skiers and unpredictable crashes.

“Drones=good idea. Flying over people=bad idea”.

In this image taken from video a camera drone crashes into the snow narrowly missing Austria’s Marcel Hirscher.

While countries like Austria, Switzerland and France do not allow drones to be flown over crowds of people, that is not the case in Italy.

Tuesday’s near miss isn’t the first time a drone has caused serious drama at a sporting event. An Australian triathlete sustained minor injuries when hit by a falling drone in 2014 and this year drones crash-landed into the US Open tennis tournament as Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu played, and a University of Kentucky football stadium during pre-game festivities.

“That was my first reaction”. “I thought it was a course worker behind me, or a gate”.