'Melted My Drone For This Shot': Photographer Captures Stunning Footage Of Volcano Eruption

March 27, 2021

A photographer in Iceland recently took his DJI drone to the skies above the erupting Geldingadalir volcano and may have gotten a little bit too close.

Garðar Ólafs says he was flying his drone around the eruption, capturing photos and videos, when he decided to try a shot looking straight down into the mouth of the fissure.

"I was flying my drone around the eruption and decided it would be cool to see it from straight above," he told PetaPixel.

"I slowly lowered the drone until all I could see was erupting lava, and when I looked up, I didn't see the drone anymore. Basically, I was inside the crater of the volcano."

Miraculously, the drone survived, but it did not emerge unscathed. The light under the drone was melted, and sensors were damaged from the extreme heat. The vision sensor no longer functions and gives constant errors during flights.

"In the end, I would say that the shot was worth it," Ólafs says, referencing the footage below.