A man flew his drone into an active volcano capturing the raw yet mesmerizing power of the peak in incredible video usually reserved only for scientists. David Clancy, who grew up in Washington, D.C., but now lives in Cape Town, South Africa, flew his drone into the 2km-wide crater of Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nyiragongo, which has an elevation of 11,380ft, contains the largest lava lake in the world and difficult conditions meant David needed to push the limits of what his drone was capable of. Flying into toxic air and extreme temperatures of more than 60C just 300 metres from the lava, the only way David could observe the condition of the drone was by the temperature of the batteries. After five-hours climbing the volcano with rangers from Virunga National Park, David arrived at 4pm and spent the night on top of the crater in little chalets before leaving the next day at 6am. With winds gusting up to 50kmh and the crater often covered in clouds, it wasn’t until the night the sky cleared and David was able to get the stunning shots he had only dreamed about.
