Roman Pirozek Jr.
Brooklyn, NY - A teenage remote control helicopter
enthusiast flying one in a park on Thursday was struck in the head by it and
killed.
Roman Pirozek Jr., 19, was pronounced dead at a Brooklyn
park near a busy parkway, and initial reports suggested he was killed by the
helicopter’s blade, police said.
The accident occurred in Calvert Vaux Park, where operating
remote control helicopters is allowed in designated areas. A club for
hobbyists, the Seaview Rotary Wings Helicopter Club, flies its aircraft from a
field there.
Pirozek’s father, Roman Pirozek, is a vice president of the
club. He and other club members didn’t return messages seeking comment
Thursday.
Police said they didn’t suspect any criminal act was
involved in the teenager’s death. They didn’t immediately release the model and
make of the helicopter he was flying.
In a YouTube video posted in July by someone named Roman
Pirozek Jr., a T-Rex 700N DFC is shown flying around at high speeds in lateral
and vertical jolts.
That particular make is on the larger side of remote control
helicopters, said Rich Hanson, spokesman for the Muncie, Ind.-based Academy of
Model Aeronautics, a membership group of hobbyists.
Hanson said the helicopter has an almost 4 1/2-foot wingspan
and can reach speeds of up to 60 mph but is used primarily for tricky,
acrobatic maneuvers.
“Flying a RC helicopter is one of the more difficult
aircraft to operate,” he said. “There are really two common reasons one might
go out: pilot error or equipment failure.”
Pirozek’s death, Hanson said, likely is only the second ever
caused by a remote control helicopter in the United States.
He said some years
ago an instructor in Texas was killed by a remote control helicopter after the
student he was teaching lost control of it.
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