AAIB Record-only UAS investigations reviewed: June - July 2024
Published 12 September 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
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This section provides details of accidents and incidents which were not subject to a Field or full Correspondence Investigation. They are wholly, or largely, based on information provided by the aircraft commander at the time of reporting and in some cases additional information from other sources. The accuracy of the information provided cannot be assured.
| Event date | Aircraft Type | Location Name | Record Only Occurrence Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2024 | UAS FX2.5 | Deenethorpe Airfield, Northamptonshire | The remote pilot was performing a manual landing when the vehicle stopped responding to control inputs. Control could not be regained, and the vehicle stalled before striking the runway. The operator believes that the accident may have been caused by the onboard communications payload interfering control signal. The operator did, however, report that the control frequency was deconflicted and tested prior to flight. |
| 20 May 2024 | UAS MA OMP Hobby | Beeches Farm Airstrip (Newark), Nottinghamshire | After several successful attempts the remote pilot succeeded in transitioning the UA to forward flight. The UA suddenly descended rapidly nose down from 25 m agl before striking the ground. |
| 21 May 2024 | UAS SkyMagic X258 | Near Goole, Yorkshire | A swarm of 500 drones were being operated to practice for a display. One of the UAs experienced a motor failure and fell to the ground away from the operators. |
| 28 May 2024 | UAS DJI Mini 4 Pro | Port of Liverpool, Merseyside | The remote pilot, positioned at Crosby Beach to the north-west of the Port of Liverpool docks, was flying the UA over the docks when he lost communications with it. Personnel at the port reported that the UA struck a crane and fell to the ground near to where they were working. The crane was approximately 785 m away from the remote pilot’s location. |
| 17 Jun 2024 | UAS MA Dynam DHC-2 Beaver | Near Wimborne, Dorset | Shortly after takeoff the remote pilot lost the control link with the model aircraft. It went out of sight and was found a couple of days later. |
| 25 Jun 2024 | UAS MA Foam Sport Glider | Near Dartford, Kent | The foam model aircraft, on its maiden flight, flew away and was not recovered. |
| 11 Jul 2024 | UAS FX2.6 | Near Brampton, Cumbria | The UA had returned from an uneventful three hour beyond visual line of sight flight flight and the remote pilot took manual control. The UA was climbing and making a left turn after a go-around when the engine suffered a power loss. The UA pitched nose down and struck the ground in a valley. |
| 17 Jul 2024 | UAS uAvionics Inspector | Ashton, Northamptonshire | The remote pilot, using a laptop to control the UA instead of the controller which was to hand, did not notice compass and gyro error messages displayed by the system. Control was lost shortly after takeoff and the UA struck a tree. |
| 19 Jul 2024 | UAS MA Pronto | Sibson, Warwickshire | As the remote pilot took the transmitter from a colleague, he lost sight of the model aircraft. The pilot cut the throttle, but the model aircraft was not recovered. |