Independent report

AAIB Record-only UAS investigations reviewed: February - March 2022

Published 12 May 2022

Event Date	Aircraft Type	Location Name	Record Only Occurrence Text
05 Jul 2021	Cobra	Spadeadam, Cumbria	The 8.4 kg fixed-wing UA was being operated on a Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) flight within a Danger Area. At 490 ft agl the UA departed controlled flight and struck the ground. The UA’s flight control system relied on GPS for primary control. If a loss of GPS was detected it reverted to a secondary control mode. The loss of control was caused by a loss of GPS and the system’s failure to detect it. The manufacturer has since changed the loss of GPS trigger thresholds, upgraded the GPS antenna and switched the primary control to use barometric altitude instead of GPS altitude.
23 Nov 2021	DJI Mavic 2	Old Oxsted, Surrey	The UA was being operated commercially to capture footage of residential properties when, from a height of about 100 m, it suddenly entered a rapid spin which the pilot could not control, and it fell into the garden of a property. The remote pilot considered that the accident occurred because of a failure of either a motor, or a motor support arm.
04 Feb 2022	Evolve Skymantis	Eastbourne, East Sussex	During landing the operator inadvertently turned the power off causing the UA to drop from 2 m agl.
05 Feb 2022	DJI Mavic Mini 2	Bridgend	The pilot misjudged the height of a nearby power line. At a height of about 37 m, the UA collided with the top wire of the power line, fell to the ground and suffered substantial damage. The power line was undamaged.
08 Feb 2022	DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise	Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk	The UA clipped a tree in a field. It fell through the tree, landed heavily on a country road, and was substantially damaged.
11 Feb 2022	DJI Inspire 2 X5S	Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire	Six minutes into a flight that was filming for a television task, the gimbal of the UA disconnected in flight. This generated a ‘Gimbal Disconnected’ alert, and the UA dropped to the ground from 70 m agl.
18 Feb 2022	DJI Mavic Mini	Huntington, Cheshire	The drone was caught by a sudden gust of wind, it had previously been calm on take-off. The drone was pulled out of range and was not recovered.
25 Feb 2022	DJI Inspire 2	Honister Pass, Cumbria	Whilst carrying out a filming flight the remote pilot flew the UA backwards which resulted in the UA hitting an undulating rock face. The UA suffered significant damage.
01 Mar 2022	DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise	Llandarcy, Neath Port Talbot	The UA was carrying out close inspection work when it clipped a dangling wire and became uncontrollable. The pilot regained control but was unable to prevent the UA from striking a metal fence.
01 Mar 2022	Wingtra One	Leeds	The UAS was carrying out an aerial survey. Shortly after takeoff on the fourth flight of the day, both motors stopped suddenly. The UA fell to the ground from a height of approximately 30 m and was destroyed.
12 Mar 2022	DJI Mavic Zoom 2	White City, London	The UAS was being used for calibration of a Fire Alarm Beam Detector within an atrium. While hovering at a height of 15 m the UA suddenly moved closer to the building and struck a wall, before falling to the ground. The legs, camera and body of the UA sustained significant damage.
24 Mar 2022	DJI Matrice M300	Manchester	Due to lack of GPS signal two attempts to take-off were aborted. After obtaining a satisfactory GPS signal the UA took off normally. While hovering at a height of 5 m the UAS handset began beeping and the UA fell to the ground breaking two motor arms.