VIDEO: Terrifying footage of a champion skier almost wiped out by a crashing drone

In recent years, drones have become a fantastic tool for capturing aerial video footage - until they malfunction.

Winter Olympic silver medallist Marcel Hirscher from Austria was competing at a slalom event at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy when a drone plunged to the earth and smashed into the snow at a terrifying speed a matter of feet behind him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCfCqShNO9Y Clip via Shock NEWS Hirscher barely noticed how close he had come to what could have been a fatal accident until after. Expressing his anger after, he said: "This is horrible. This can never happen again. This can be a serious injury." https://twitter.com/MarcelHirscher/status/679401552759676928