A French aviation enthusiast has patented a system to scatter human ashes using a drone.
Franck Siguier, a professional drone pilot, said the idea came from a friend who works as an undertaker.
“It is a simple idea, but in reality it was quite complicated to realise. I had to not only develop a mechanical way of dispersing the ashes, but also satisfy the legal requirements of scattering ashes in France and aeronautical rules,” he told The Connexion.
“I quickly realised that I was best off designing and patenting my own system for dispersal, and that is what I did.”
Under French law, ashes cannot be moved from the urn they are placed in, so people who want to scatter ashes by drone have to ask the crematorium to place them in special cardboard urns provided by Mr Siguier’s company, Terra Ciela.
Cardboard was chosen because the urns lifted by the drone cannot be too heavy.
The urns are fitted with a device that begins the dispersal at the push of a button on a remote control. This is separate from the operating system of the drone.
Ashes can be kept at home for a year before they have to be either scattered or placed in the urn in a cemetery.
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“With my drone they are quickly dispersed in a puff of ash below the machine, which can be seen on nice, sunny days,” said Mr Siguier.
Ashes cannot be spread over beaches or at sea within 300m of a beach. Spreading is also banned over public spaces, on public roads, over rivers or lakes.
Mr Siguier has identified three locations where people seeking a simple dispersion can have their ashes scattered: in the Black Mountains near the company’s base in Tarn, by the Mont-Saint-Michel Bay in Normandy, and near Chamonix in the Alps.
“We usually have a group of family and friends who come to make an occasion of it,” he said.
The simple dispersion costs €850. Flights to other sites, chosen by the families or deceased, cost €1,750 due to the extra work getting aircraft authorisations. For an extra €450, a video of the scattering, filmed from another drone, is provided.
Sky-high send-off
In his first year Mr Siguier has carried out 40 dispersals, and demand is so strong he is developing a system of concessions across France where professional drone pilots will be able to use his dispersal technology.
He said it was not possible to generalise why people would want to have their ashes spread by drone.
“Some have been pilots who wanted an aeronautical send-off, and others have been nature lovers who view the idea of their ashes being released in a beautiful spot up in the air as a good way to go,” he said.
“But I have also had an elderly couple who died close together and who worked together all their lives in the vineyard they owned. They wanted to be spread out over their vines.
“There is no one social class either – they have come from all walks of life.”
