For 10 hours, a Chinese village sat in the dark – and a pig dangled from the sky.
A farmer, who was using a drone to transport a pig to a slaughterhouse, had accidentally shut down the local power supply after the drone's rope carrying the animal became tangled in an electrical line.
Images shared on social media showed the silhouette of the pig suspended in the air against a grey sky, dangling limply from the drone above, as bemused onlookers gathered below.
The farmer, who has not been identified, said the remote location of his village in Tongjiang county, Sichuan province, makes it difficult to transport pigs by vehicle, prompting him to use drones instead.
On Jan 24, he set out to airlift several pigs from the mountainous area.
The first attempt ended abruptly when the pig became suspended mid-air after the rope attached to the drone caught on a high-voltage power line – turning "when pigs fly" from an expression into a logistical problem.
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The farmer blamed poor visibility for the mishap. He had planned to transport more than 10 pigs throughout the day, but had to abandon the project.
An employee from the local power supply authority said the village experienced a 10-hour blackout as a result. "We sent 12 workers to repair the line. The repair costs are about 10,000 yuan (£1,100)," she was quoted as saying.
Local authorities said the farmer is suspected of breaking the law by operating the drone in a no-fly zone.
"We are still collecting evidence. If he is confirmed to have breached the law, he will face an administrative punishment and need to compensate for electricity equipment losses," an officer said.
The use of drones in agriculture is widespread in China's rural areas, although their role does not typically extend to suspending pigs above electricity lines.
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