Enrique Iglesias Seriously Injures Hand during Show from Flying Drone

Enrique Iglesias Seriously Injures Hand during Show from Flying Drone

Singer Enrique Iglesias was injured by a flying drone recording footage at one of his concerts in Tijuana, Mexico. The drone is used during his concerts to capture the audience and various points in the show for more dynamic vantage points. When Iglesias went to grab the drone to bring the camera closer to his face, which he has done before, the blades from the device severely sliced his hand calling him off stage to tend to the wound.

As drone sales have skyrocketed over the last few years, especially with photographers, it's easy to get caught up in the hype and not properly learn the safety risks involved in using the equipment. The drone that inflicted the injury was a DJI Inspire 1. In the video below, you can see Iglesias pull the camera down and then immediately toss it to the side once his hand comes in contact with the fast moving blades. Iglesias' publicist commented, "Something went wrong, and he had an accident. He was semi-treated by crew on the side of the stage to try and stop the bleeding."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=967xo4FzySo

This is simply a reminder for all those photographers out there experimenting with or thinking about purchasing a drone for personal or professional use. Always take the necessary precautions in learning the tools for the job and that all procedures are in place before operating. Though Iglesias acted calmly and professionally, keeping his demeanor in check, the situation could have been much worse.

[via CNN]

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Andrew Griswold is a photographer and designer based in Indianapolis. Born and raised in Indy he has made a name for himself by staying very active in the creative community in both photography and design. He has also founded a community of photographers via Instagram connecting them with brands to work with and shoot locally.

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11 Comments

Strange, it didn't look like his finger got close to the blades but something else near the body of it... not a great detailed video to see it though. Also note that catching drones in mid-air is pretty stupid. This has nothing to do with the drone pilot being careless but rather the stupidity of someone not knowing the dangers of these drones. I'm guessing that Enrique was the kid always sticking his fingers in fans to try and stop the blades. =)

My thoughts are you have to be really stupid or reckless to grab a drone mid air, althoungh i read in other sources grabing the drone was a stunt he did in a regular basis, but in this particular case the stunt didnt go as planned. As a drone pilot, drones can be dangerous in 2 situations, one whan the drone is being pilot by an idiot, and second when a drone is being flown near reckless or stupid people.

seems he kept the show going after it happened :O just got careless for a second that's all, I don't think he's in the habit of sticking his fingers where they don't belong. I've had may share of accidents with a kitchen knife, that doesn't mean I like the taste of nails in my food :P

Iglesias tosses the drone into the audience and says "F' this! I'm outta here!" to seek medical attention. I guess that's what he thinks of his fans.

dumb ass. those spinny things will hurt you.

Darwin comes to mind for some reason...

Ok, I like this site, so I have tried to overlook the horrible writing. But it's gotten to where I have to ask nicely. Please, have someone with a better than average understanding of English and grammar proof the articles and titles. Please.

Really drone over so many People which at moment do not care if it hit them from behind or top. This is why there has to be regulations for drone usage over people

The Drone Operator skillfully managed to float the drone steady at a good distance from him. Its Singer's mistake to to grab it and play with it.

When I was a kid, my father almost had the tip of a finger cut off while breaking in a .60 sized engine that was going to be put in a 1/4 scale R/C model. It was swinging a wooden prop. Had it been a nylon prop, it would have probably been sliced completely off. These drones have plastic/nylon props that spin at a pretty high rate. It's like putting your hand in a blender. There's no governor to stop it from spinning as soon as it detects something like a finger like the SawStop. One must be careful.

Well the drone was part of his video crew for the show and he was showing off in close range in front of the gopro on it, so he can blame himself only.. plus have you noticed how quickly director let the confetti released around him so he took the attention of the viewers from him... I bet they had the live footage on the monitor from that drone and reacted promptly to it :)... common sense says do not play with rotors :) Enrique :)