ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 246801
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| Date: | Wednesday 17 June 2020 |
| Time: | 00:57 UTC |
| Type: | Aeryon SkyRanger R60 |
| Owner/operator: | Sussex Police |
| Registration: | Unregistered |
| MSN: | SR 5074049 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Maidenbower Pond, Billinton Drive, Crawley RH10 7NJ, West Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Aerial patrol |
| Departure airport: | Maidenbower Pond, Billinton Drive, Crawley RH10 7NJ, West Sussex |
| Maidenbower Pond, Billinton Drive, Crawley RH10 7NJ, West Sussex | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
AAIB investigation to Aeryon SkyRanger R60, UAS, registration n/a: Unintended pilot activation of emergency cut-out system in flight, Maidenbower Pond, Billinton Drive, Crawley RH10 7NJ, West Sussex, 17 June 2020. The AAIB Fina Report was published 15 January 2021, and the following is an excerpt from it...
"The UAS was being used to search for a missing person in the area of a large pond surrounded by trees. The search was being conducted at night and was using a thermal camera to search areas hard to access by foot. The weather at the time was good with only a light breeze.
The UAS pilot reported that during the flight he became aware of a message on the screen of the flight controller which he did not recognise. He did not realise the message was a warning and attempted to clear it but in doing so the aircraft motors cut out, causing the UA to fall from a height of about 70 ft into the pond below. "
=AAIB Analysis=
The pilot had not recognised the significance of the icon that he had inadvertently selected on the flight selector and his attempt to clear the message from the screen had the unintended consequence of activating the emergency cut-out function. This had shut down the motors and caused the UA to fall into the pond below.
CAA requirements currently allow a person with no previous experience to gain a commercial UAS pilot’s qualification in a relatively short period of time, often in less than a week. The high level of automation available also makes many UAS relatively easy to operate. These points have the benefit of making this important area of aviation more widely available. They however also present the potential for people operating UAS to do so without the benefit of the experience gained over the longer and more extensive training required for more traditional routes into manned aviation. Recent AAIB investigations reveal a lack of understanding by some UAS pilots of fundamental operational factors such as weather limitations and the handling of aircraft warnings and failures.
The potential for such UAs as that involved in this accident to cause serious or fatal injuries when falling from even relatively low heights highlights the need for UAS pilots to be capable of understanding all aspects of their operation. This in itself requires careful management where an operator has a number of different pilots and systems under their control, with a need to carry out effective training and assessments, as well as keeping pilots properly current.
=Safety Action=
The police forces involved had been increasingly investing in the training and assessment of those officers using UAS. They were already in the process of introducing a new system of pilot assessment which will require pilots to undergo an assessment every six months, incorporating an annual day’s training. Since the accident they have also allocated an officer working full time in the training role to compliment the assessors already in place.
=Damage to Airframe=
Per the above AAIB Report the UAV was "destroyed"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB Final Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fd8ce1dd3bf7f40d2f0a645/Aeryon_SkyRanger_R60_registration_na_01-21.pdf
2. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9155013/Blundering-cop-destroys-64-000-drone-pressing-wrong-buttons-remote-control-panel.html
3. https://dronexl.co/2021/01/19/pilot-crashes-85000-police-drone/
4. https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/19/sussex_police_drone_crash_crawley/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeryon_SkyRanger_R60
6. https://crawley.gov.uk/culture/parks-and-open-spaces/nature-conservation/maidenbower-pond
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Jan-2021 10:30 | harro | Added |
| 11-Mar-2021 21:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 30-Jun-2021 20:43 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 09-Jul-2021 19:29 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration] |
| 09-Jul-2021 19:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 09-Jul-2021 19:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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