Cameraman Loses His $15k Quadcopter in the Amazon Rainforest

I don’t know about you, but I cringe when I lose a lens cap. So I can’t imagine how Christ Newman of CineChopper felt when he lost, not a measly lens cap or even a lens, but a $15,000 quadcopter.

While shooting for Animal Planet in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru, Newman’s quadcopter had a bit of a malfunction.

The chopper went ‘rogue,’ so to speak, taking a flight path all its own over the rainforest canopy. Newman and a fellow crew member chased it down, but every time they got closer, the drone would drift further away. Eventually, when the quadcopter had drifted far out of sight, Newman accepted his fate and… released the throttle.

What ensued was a mosquito-infested drone-hunt, the results of which you can see by watching the six-minute video above.