Independent report

AAIB Record-only UAS investigations reviewed: April - May 2021

Published 8 July 2021

Event Date	UAS Type	Location	Record Only Occurrence Text
20 Mar 2021	DJI Mavic Mini	Stockport, Greater Manchester	The UAS was being used to film a moving car. However, the UA collided with the side of the car and fell to the ground. It suffered substantial damage when it was then run over by the car.
30 Mar 2021	Parrot Anafi USA	Cassington, Oxfordshire	The UA struck overhead telephone wires and fell to the ground.
30 Mar 2021	Parrot Anafi	Cassington, Oxfordshire	During a night takeoff, the UAS collided with an unseen telephone wire approximately 20 m above ground level.
31 Mar 2021	DJI Unknown	Trellech, Monmouthshire	While taking photographs of a building, the UAS clipped the branch of a tree and fell to the ground.
31 Mar 2021	DJI FPV	Waskerley, County Durham	The pilot was flying the UA over a hillside. He lost control of the UA and it fell to the ground.
04 Apr 2021	DJI Phantom 4 Pro	Holywell, Flintshire	The UA was flown to a height of 55 m for handling checks when power to the motors was lost. It descended rapidly colliding with the ground close to the take-off point.
04 Apr 2021	DJI Inspire 2	Covent Garden, London	The UAS was in a stable hover while the operator was looking at the screen. The UAS flew into a nearby building before falling to the ground.
11 Apr 2021	Align T-Rex 500x	Little Stoke, Bristol	The UA, a model helicopter, was being flown from a playing field. The operator hit the rescue button on the transmitter, the button jammed and the UA did not respond. It disappeared into a housing estate and was not recovered.
14 Apr 2021	DJI Matrice 300	Guildford, Surrey	During night training operations, a warning appeared on the control unit that the UAS was not receiving data from the gimbal payload. The operator was bringing the UA in to land when, at a height of around 10 m, the payload dropped to the ground.
14 Apr 2021	Sky Falcon P93	Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire	The UA made an uncommanded climb while in a height-holding manoeuvre. The remote pilot shut down the engine and attempted to recover the UA which resulted in a hard landing.
15 Apr 2021	DJI Unknown	Sawtry, Cambridgeshire	The pilot, who was visual with the UA, misjudged its trajectory and it hit a tree despite the UA’s collision avoidance having been turned on.
17 Apr 2021	FPV Iflight Protek certified HD	Newquay, Cornwall	The UAS was conducting commercial photography shoot some 15 m above the cliff top near Newquay when the control feed cut out and the pilot lost control. The UA struck the cliff top, rolled down the cliff into the sea and was not recoverable.
21 Apr 2021	DJI Phantom 4	Swindon, Wiltshire	Shortly after takeoff, control of the UA was lost. It flew into a fence and sustained damage to three propellers.
23 Apr 2021	DJI Mavic 2	King’s Lynn, Norfolk	The UAS was being used to for aerial photography. During manoeuvring the UA struck a tree and fell to the ground.
24 Apr 2021	Radio Controlled Glider	Near Abingdon, Oxfordshire	From a model flying club, the pilot was flying his model glider at 50 m above the ground towards him. It However, it flew past him, disappeared and was not recovered.
27 Apr 2021	DJI Mavic 2 Pro	Gainsborough, Lincolnshire	The propellers of the UAS struck the branches of the tree causing it to fall onto a parked car.
02 May 2021	DJI Matrice 210 V1	Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk	The operator started the rotors and the UA took off to a height of about 5 m where the response checks were carried out. After the first check the UA turned, but did not respond to control inputs and struck a tree. The UA sustained substantial structural damage.
06 May 2021	DJI M300 RTK	New Malden, Surrey	The UAS was being operated in the hours of darkness in support of a police operation. Whilst manoeuvring to land it collided with some unseen telephone wires causing it to fall to the ground and collided with a parked car. All propeller blades, a propeller arm, leg and camera mount were broken in the accident.
19 May 2021	DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2	Brent Cross, London	After surveying from a height of approximately 10 m, the pilot flew the drone to a height of 30 m when, without warning, it flipped over and fell to the ground. The UA came to rest on a rubble plie approximately 50 m from any person. The pilot reported that, on inspection, it appeared that the battery connector had melted.