Investigating accidents to Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Published 17 February 2021
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The AAIB started investigating accidents to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in 2015. At the time, the AAIB was only required by regulation EU 996 to investigate accidents and serious incidents to UAS weighing more than 150 kg, but there were no such UA on the civilian UK register. Under national regulations the AAIB has discretion to investigate accidents to UA of any weight when safety lessons are expected to be drawn.
With an increasing number of small UAS (less than 150 kg) in UK airspace and the potential risk to third parties, we began investigating accidents to:
• prepare us for a more serious accident or a serious mid-air collision. • identify possible trends that might inform the regulations, change operational restrictions or training requirements. • enable us to inform UAS manufacturers of potential design issues. • make safety recommendations intended to prevent recurrence.
Reporting a UAS accident
Under regulation EU 996 ‘any person involved’ who has knowledge of the occurrence of an aircraft accident or serious incident in the UK must report it to the AAIB; ‘any person’ includes (but is not limited to) the owner, operator and pilot of a UAS.
All UAS accidents and serious incidents are required to be reported to the AAIB, regardless of weight or whether they are being used for commercial operations. An accident has occurred if someone was fatally or seriously injured, or the aircraft has sustained damage beyond a certain level. If only the propeller blades of a multi-rotor UA have been damaged then this would not be classified as an accident. A serious incident is an incident involving circumstances indicating that there was a high probability of an accident.
If in any doubt about whether a UAS accident or serious incident needs to be reported, please report it to us anyway by calling our 24-hour reporting line +44 (0)1252 512299.
AAIB UAS accident investigation policy
The AAIB will investigate a UAS accident if it was being operated under a CAA Operational Authorisation, if the UA is certified or the accident has resulted in a fatal or serious injury. The AAIB will also investigate UAS accidents where potential airworthiness issues or other safety issues are identified.
If the UAS accident involves a fatality, life threatening injuries or significant airworthiness and safety issues have been identified then the AAIB will deploy a team to the accident site and carry out a field investigation. If the accident doesn’t result in a field investigation the AAIB will assess the information provided to determine if there is a potential safety issue, if this is the case an investigation by correspondence will be carried out. This will include sending a UAS Accident Report Form to the pilot and might involve analysing any recorded data and contacting the UAS manufacturer.
At the end of the investigation a report will be published on our website. If none of these conditions are met then the information will be recorded on our database.
The AAIB has learnt a lot about UAS and the different factors that can cause or contribute to UAS accidents. Whenever we perceive that there is a significant safety issue or safety lesson to convey, then we aim to publish a report. We encourage UAS operators to report accidents and serious incidents to us so that other operators and the UAS industry can learn from them.