Independent report

AAIB Record-only UAS investigations reviewed: April - May 2022

Published 14 July 2022

Event Date	Aircraft Type	Location Name	Record Only Occurrence Text
05 Mar 2022	DJI Matrice M300	Ffynongroyw, Flintshire	The UA was operating at a height of 115 m when an ESC (Electronic Speed Controller) error occurred on one of the motors. The UA fell to the ground in the back garden of a house and was extensively damaged.
24 Mar 2022	DJI Matrice 210 RTK	Selby, North Yorkshire	Shortly after takeoff at a height of 5 m the UA suddenly flew away at high speed. Neither the speed nor the direction of the UA could be controlled. The remote pilot used attitude mode to intentionally force the UA into a grassed area to avoid collision with nearby cooling buildings.
25 Mar 2022	DJI Matrice M300	Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan	During a photographic flight the UA controller showed a prop motor 4 error and the UA fell to the ground, landing in a field. When recovered the arm supporting motor 4 was found to be broken and the number 4 propeller and motor would not rotate without the application of significant force.
26 Mar 2022	DJI Mavic 2	Chilworth, Surrey	While being flown approximately 70 m from the remote pilot and in ‘Sport’ mode, which inhibited its onboard obstruction sensors, the UA struck the branches of a tree and fell to the ground. The pilot reflected that, with the aircraft 70 m away, depth perception was challenging and if he had enabled the collision sensors by switching to ‘positional’ mode and used the camera to check for potential hazards the accident might have been avoided.
02 Apr 2022	DJI Mavic Enterprises Advanced	Coniston, Cumbria	The UA was operating in a quarry. The remote pilot lost contact with the UA and it struck the wall of the quarry before falling into a lake.
07 Apr 2022	DJI Matrice 210	Ipswich, Suffolk	The UA became unresponsive to any of the remote pilot’s commands shortly after takeoff. It drifted towards the nearby river, descended into it and became partially submerged.
10 Apr 2022	MA Big Swift Glider	Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey	The model glider disappeared into cloud and went missing. It was not recovered.
13 Apr 2022	Delair UX11	Brechin, Angus	The Delair UX11 is a fixed wing UA used for mapping. During a survey flight in an unpopulated area, the remote pilot activated a land command due to high winds. Whilst returning to land the UA became unstable, probably due to the wind and associated turbulence off surrounding hills, and the right wing detached.
18 Apr 2022	DJI Mavic Enterprise Adv	Tyburn, Birmingham	As the UA was returning to it’s launch point it stopped reacting to control inputs and descended, uncontrolled, to the ground.
24 Apr 2022	DJI Matrice M300	Manchester	The UAS was being used to inspect the inside of a vertical shaft in a railway tunnel as part of planned maintenance activity. The top of the shaft had been capped and the tunnel was not in use at the time of the inspection. As the UA entered the shaft it drifted horizontally and failed to respond to the pilot’s commands. Approximately 1 m into the shaft the UA hit the shaft wall and fell onto the rail track.
29 Apr 2022	DJI Mavic 2	Doncaster, Yorkshire	A night survey using torches detected telephone cables prior to deploying the UA. However, the UA subsequently collided with a telephone cable and fell out of control to the ground. The remote pilot considered that he may have missed the cable during the survey,as a result of the light conditions in the area of operation.
30 Apr 2022	MA Powered Glider Alegra 2M	South Kyme, Lincolnshire	On the last flight of the day, in fading light, the remote pilot realised that the glider had moved significantly north and disappeared from view in some low-lying mist. The pilot closed off the transmitter and activated the fail safe to land the glider. The aircraft could not be found.
15 May 2022	MA foam, electric powered	Birch Vale, Derbyshire	Despite the remote pilot’s attempts to land the model, it was blown away from the pilot by the wind and was not recovered.
15 May 2022	MA fixed wing	Inskip, Lancashire	The remote pilot lost sight of the blue model aircraft against the blue sky. The aircraft has not been recovered.
22 May 2022	DJI Mavic Mini	Near Ben More, Isle of Mull	The remote pilot lost connection with the UA. It subsequently struck a bus about 600 m away; the bus suffered a cracked windscreen.
24 May 2022	Autel Evo II Pro	Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire	Whilst ascending inside a shaft, the UA suffered a compass error and started manoeuvring in a clockwise rotation. The UA did not respond to the remote pilot’s inputs and was subsequently recovered from the bottom of the shaft . The compass error was believed to have been caused by environmental interference.
27 May 2022	Ultra-UAS	Predannack Airfield, Cornwall	The manufacturer was testing cross wind landings. During the 21st landing roll out, the remote pilot and the observer noticed the nose wheel start toshimmy that developed very rapidly into an aggressive wobble that subsequently caused the nosewheel fork to detach.