We Spoke to the Man Who Crashed a Drone Full of Asparagus in the Netherlands

Drones might be the future, but they still face quite a few problems in the present, considering the fact that they frequently crash. Ask Roland Peijnenburg of Michelin-starred restaurant De Zwaan in Etten-Leur, whose drone drama went viral this week.

The official opening of asparagus season is held each second Thursday in April, and Peijnenburg traditionally initiates this by ferrying the first load of asparagus to the Santpuy farm in an extravagant way. In the past, he's done this with a hot air balloon and a Formula 1 racecar. This year he chose to do it by drone—a crucial mistake, as it turned out.

During a stopover to change the battery, the drone burst into flame. The amateur pilot attempted to save the aircraft by blowing on the fire, but it was to no avail. The asparagus simply lay there, blackened and sad.

A tragic experience for Peijnenburg and his friend, the hobby pilot. All of the Netherlands mourned the loss of the asparagus drone. Twitter-folk sent their compassionate tweets:

BREAKING! #Drone met eerste #asperges voor restaurant De Zwaan in Etten-Leur stort neer http://t.co/eptHT9SUOb #aspergedrone #nationalerouw — eyot08 (@eyot08) 8 april 2015

Verschillende asperges hebben de #NOS laten weten de #drones nu te vermijden. 'Dan maar even in de file' aldus een asperge. #aspergedrone — Tekstmeneer (@tekstmeneer) 8 april 2015

To create order in this chaos, the incident was recorded by one @yordidam on a map, which might possibly be the best asparagus drone infographic in the world.

The day after the drone fire, I called up Peijnenburg to see how he was feeling.

MUNCHIES: Hi, Roland. So, why did you do this? Roland Peijnenburg: The moment the asparagus are harvested is an important turning point in the year. From that moment on, it's really spring because we can eat stuff out of the soil. In winter, one cannot. Each year, I invent an original and fun way to transport the asparagus from the farm to the village, but also because I enjoy being in the news.

What did you do last year? Last year we held an asparagus relay race in which the entire personnel passed on an asparagus stalk while walking: from chef to waiter to wine steward to asparagus harvester to asparagus farmer, and so forth.

Did it ever go wrong before? Yes, with the hot air balloon things didn't run smoothly either: the wind kept turning, which made us have to move the starting point of the ride. When I finally was airborn, joined by the farmer and the mayor, I had an additional surprise: when we flew over the town's market square, I threw all the asparagus down.

Oh no. Yes! My staff stood downstairs to catch the asparagus in their kitchen aprons, but after the asparagus landed on the heads of the cooks, it made them run like the wind.

This year you chose a drone. How did you prepare for the journey? I called the town with my idea and they were enthusiastic. I did have to adhere to a few rules: I mapped out the route prior, and made sure we wouldn't fly over large crowds or houses. Also, cars with blinking lights had to drive on each side of the drone to indicate that something dangerous was on its way. The day before, we had a test run and everything went fine then. We smoothly flew under and over everything. On the day itself, it went wrong—even prior to hitting the urban area.

What went wrong? A drone with a kilo of asparagus barely flies for 12 minutes, which is how long it would have been in transit. So we made a pit stop to change the battery. Something must have gone wrong with the second battery, which provided too much oxygen to the power, because when it hit approximately 30 centimeters above the ground it burned up.

You went viral. Considering that, was the crash good or bad? It certainly was more newsworthy than if it would have landed as planned. The asparagus farmer and I were, all-in-all, pretty content with the media attention, but it was a tragedy for the owner of the drone. He instantly lost more than 2,000 euros.

Do you think the crash is a bad omen for asparagus season? No, and I will tell you why. Just at the moment the drone set flame, a white swan flew by, and swans don't fly that often. "This is a SIGN," I thought to myself, a sign of prosperity. Next year I'm going to train 25 swans to bring the asparagus to my restaurant.

Is that your plan for next year? That, or a carrier pigeon. No, just kidding. I get the best ideas when I'm showering. The mode of transportation always has something to do with the hype of the moment. Last year it was 'durability,' hence the tenacity of the relay race, and now it's drones. Who knows what it'll be next year?

Your asparagus got torched, but which dish were you planning to make with the first batch? A simple little dish: well-cooked in the oven and topped with raw salmon, garnished with a butter sauce. We still did that with a batch of new asparagus, and it was divine.

Thanks Roland, and good luck next year.