Viral Indonesia TikTok video of worker riding agricultural drone was ‘just content’, owner says

A video showing farm workers being ferried to and from a plantation by an agricultural drone has gone viral on TikTok in Indonesia, prompting its creator to say the footage was made only "for content" and to suspend the drone's use while questions are raised about flight permits. 

The video, posted under the TikTok account @mbahkaruhon.tiktok.com1, shows workers being transported by an unmanned drone as they travelled to and from farmland. The account belongs to Budianto, Director of PT Bina Tani Makmur, a company based in Jombang, East Java. CNN Indonesia identified Budianto, 47, as a Jombang resident, and reported that the footage was filmed at one of his plantations in the Merakurak area of Tuban Regency, East Java.

Budianto said the drone was not his own but belonged to a farming partner, and described the video as an unplanned piece of content. "Apologies if I got it wrong, it was just content," he said, speaking to IDN Times on Tuesday, 7 July 2026. 

From fertiliser runs to a viral moment

Budianto had previously posted several videos of the drone carrying fertiliser and seedlings across his plantation, but these attracted little attention. He then filmed the drone carrying a worker home from the fields as a joke, telling CNN Indonesia: "It was really just for content, just a bit of fun. I thought, let's see if it can carry me [the worker] — is it strong enough? Well, you [the worker] only weigh maybe 60 to 70 kilograms, so it should be able to make it there."

That clip, unlike his earlier posts, was viewed millions of times and shared thousands of times. Budianto said he was startled by the sudden attention: "It turned out to be full of comments. I thought, wow, this TikTok thing is really happening. Why do I suddenly have so many followers, thousands of comments, and even millions of views?"

He also clarified that he was not the person shown being carried by the drone in the video, but rather the area supervisor, who is one of his working partners. "It wasn't me riding the drone. The one riding it was the area work supervisor — my partner," he said.

Drone not designed to carry people, company says

Budianto said that at the time the video was filmed, he and his team had been on land intended for banana cultivation in the Tuban area, and had casually decided to make the video. He said the drone was normally used only for agricultural operations such as transporting seedlings and fertiliser, and for irrigation, given that the distance to the plantation runs as far as 1.5 kilometres. "This drone is very helpful, because there is no access to the banana plantation we're heading to. It runs across rice fields and the distance is far. Carrying things manually would be heavy and slow. This technology helps farming operations," he said.

Budianto stressed the drone was not designed to carry humans, and that only workers who volunteered were lifted using the device, while others continued to walk to the fields. He said safety was taken into account, with workers carried one at a time despite the drone's capacity for a heavier load. "We do think about safety. So it's one at a time. It goes up slowly, and comes down slowly too," he said.

Separately, addressing concerns that the practice could be dangerous, Budianto said that in the event of a fall while transporting seeds or fertiliser, the drone would come down over farmland rather than residential areas. "If it's said to be dangerous — say it fell while carrying seeds and fertiliser — it would fall in the rice field area. We make sure it doesn't pass over residential areas, so it's safe. But if it's judged to be wrong regarding flight permits, we will stop it," he added.

Why the drone was used in the first place

According to CNN Indonesia, the use of the drone stemmed from the plantation's lack of road access. Budianto described the site as landlord-owned land that had never previously been cultivated, located in a muddy area near the coast. "There's no way to get vehicles through, because there is no road," he said.

Since conventional vehicles and helicopters were not viewed as practical solutions, Budianto said he and his farming partners agreed to use a high-capacity agricultural drone instead. "So what was the solution? Should we use a helicopter? No, that's not feasible — the permits required are extensive. What could we use? Just use a drone — a large-capacity agricultural drone," he said.

The drone used is a DJI Agras T100, capable of carrying up to 150 litres of water or a 150-kilogram load. It was originally used to transport water and pesticide, before being adapted to carry fertiliser, seedlings and other farming supplies, and, more recently, to occasionally transport workers to and from the fields.

Since the video went viral, Budianto has stopped using the drone and said he was uncertain about the implications for the banana farmers involved. "I am now focused on planting. The drone is no longer allowed to be operated to carry people, and parties are looking into me over flight permit issues," he said.