Drone Manufacturer: DJI
Drone Model: Matrice 210
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Type: Accident
Date: 2020-11-19
Applies:
Pilot Qualifications: Unknown Status
Pilot Flight Experience: Unknown Hours
Link to External Information About This submission: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/623c504ee90e0779a18d3fc0/DJI_Matrice_M210_V1_n-a_05-22.pdf
File Uploaded: None
Description
he quadcopter unmanned aircraft (UA) was being flown over the city of Poole during a police operation when the wind at 400 ft exceeded the forecast wind, the manufacturer’s wind limit and the maximum restricted speed of the UA. The UA drifted beyond visual line of sight and then communication with it was lost. When the battery level was low it entered an auto-land mode but collided with the wall of a house, damaging its propeller blades before coming to rest on a balcony.
The investigation revealed that shortly after takeoff one of the UA’s two batteries had disconnected which resulted in its maximum speed being restricted, but this restriction is not referenced in the user manual and neither the remote pilot nor operator were aware of it. When the UA detected that the manufacturer’s wind limit had been exceeded, the message triggered on the pilot’s controller display was ‘Fly with caution, strong wind’ instead of advising the pilot that the limit had been exceeded and that the UA should be landed as soon as possible.
Three Safety Recommendations are made to the UAS manufacturer and one to the CAA on Visual Line of Sight guidance.
Reported Cause
Training discrepancy and battery error.
The full report contains a significant amount of good information and “Safety Recommendation 2022-004 It is recommended that the Civil Aviation Authority review the Visual Line of Sight distance figures in CAP 722 and amend the guidance to make it clear that just being able to see an unmanned aircraft is not sufficient for Visual Line of Sight operations and that pilots need to be able to demonstrate that at the distance they are flying, they can manoeuvre it rapidly to avoid a collision and can also land the unmanned aircraft safely following a loss of position-holding without reference to video or telemetry.”