Independent report

AAIB Record-only UAS investigations reviewed: December 2020 - January 2021

Published 11 March 2021

Event Date	UAS Type	Location	Record Only Occurrence Text
27 Jul 2020	UAS Yuneec H520	Brae, Shetland	The UA was being used to film a fire when it lost power and fell to the ground inside the emergency services cordon. The UK agent identified the likely cause of the sudden power loss was the battery moving in its holder. The manufacturer has developed an additional clamp to improve the security of the battery.
23 Sep 2020	UAS DJI Matrice 200 V1	Perth, Perthshire	During a training flight the UA motors suddenly shut down and the UA dropped into trees from a height of 390 feet. The data contained the following errors ‘Barometer Dead in Air’, ‘Not Enough Force’ and ‘ESC Error’. The insurers disposed of the UA so no examination was possible to determine the cause.
27 Sep 2020	UAS Parrot Anafi	Leeds, West Yorkshire	The propeller detached in flight and the UA was damaged on impact with the ground.
16 Nov 2020	UAS Itchenor	Goodwood Aerodrome, West Sussex	During a test flight, whilst the UA was being controlled from a remote location, communications were lost due to the ground antenna not covering the full flight area. The on-site safety pilot took control but, whilst attempting to change to ‘Position Mode’ to land the UA, inadvertently handed control back to the remote controller. The remote controller’s throttle was set to 50%, which is insufficient for the UA to maintain altitude. The UA descended, landed heavily and was damaged. The operator is reviewing its operating procedures, software and hardware.
19 Nov 2020	UAS DJI Phantom	Colchester, Essex	Approximately ten minutes into the flight the battery was seen to fall from the UA. The UA lost power and crashed.
01 Dec 2020	UAS DJI Phantom 4 RTK	Morley, West Yorkshire	Shortly after take off, at a height of 55 metres, the UA began to spin and descended, out of control, until it struck the ground. The pilot attributed the accident to a possible propeller failure.
02 Dec 2020	UAS DJI Inspire 2	Oakham, Rutland	While conducting aerial filming, the UA struck overhead power lines and fell to the ground, incurring substantial damage.
07 Dec 2020	UAS Yuneec H520	Shotts, North Lanarkshire	The UA took off with a fully charged battery to survey some woodland. As it transited to the start point of the survey the pilot noticed the battery level diminishing quickly, and commanded the UA to return to the landing site. The battery charge continued to decrease to the point that the UA lost power before it reached the landing site, and it struck the canopy of the woodland. There was extensive damage to the UA.
09 Dec 2020	UAS Yuneec H520	Port of Cromarty Firth, Ross and Cromarty	The link between UAS and ground controller was lost, and the UA drifted out to sea and it was not recovered.
13 Dec 2020	UAS DJI Matrice 210 V2	Mansfield, Nottinghamshire	The UA, which had new batteries, suddenly fell to the ground approximately 52 seconds into a flight.
15 Dec 2020	UAS DJI Inspire 2	Canary Wharf, London	Whilst filming over the water at Canary Wharf, the UA suddenly lurched forward. The operator made an input to arrest this movement, but the UA moved rapidly backward, struck a nearby building, and descended rapidly landing heavily on the roof of a covered walkway. The UA was severely damaged.
17 Dec 2020	UAS DJI Mavic Pro 2	Bath, Somerset	Manual control was lost during landing. The UA collided with a nearby wall and fell to the ground, causing damage to its propellers.
22 Dec 2020	UAS DJI Mavic 2	Tursdale, Durham	On takeoff, just prior to pre-flight control checks, control of the UA was lost and it collided with a fence.
26 Dec 2020	UAS Holy Stone HS720E	Cambridge	The UA was reported missing during a flight in fields near to Cambridge Airport. The UA could not be found.
21 Jan 2021	UAS DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise	St Ives, Cornwall	The UAS was being flown over the sea when the operator observed a battery warning message. The operator tried to bring the UA back to the takeoff point but, when over land, it lost power and fell to the ground from a height 10 m. The operator had avoided overflight of people on the beach when bringing the UA back to the takeoff point.
26 Jan 2021	UAS DJI Matrice 300 RTK	Carrington, Manchester	This was the first flight for the UAS. It suffered a hardware failure, possibly a motor, 20 minutes into the flight and fell approximately 50 ft into a wooded area.