DUAS XX28 - Highways England Report
Initial Report
Whilst some of you may have already received the report below, originally circulated by Highways England, we thought it merited broader circulation, so we have included it in Feedback 14. The report was also included in the AAIB Record -only UAS Investigations reviewed October – November 2024. We have reproduced the text of the AAIB report below and this is then followed by the Highways England notice that it sent out, that deals with the occurrence.
| 26 Nov 2024 | DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise | Elmbridge, Surrey | The UA was engaged on an automated mapping flight when it began to behave erratically. The UA did not respond to the remote pilot’s return home command, and it was guided over a field where it came down. |
CHIRP Comment
The Board had the following comments
- For those that are interested, it is worthwhile clicking on the link below to look at the CSV files and Flight Log that Highways England circulated and which is pasted below.
- Focussing on the HF aspects of this flight, maintaining VLOS is critical to flight safety. The detailed flight logs seem to suggest that the aircraft hit something in the air after the Return to Home button had been pressed. The further away the Drone was from the pilot the more difficult it would have been to determine whether it was going to clear the cable in between the pylons, as the Drone climbed to its RTH altitude. Perspective is increasingly difficult to judge, the further away an object is.
- If you are planning a mapping mission that goes anywhere near powerlines, one of the pre-flight checks that should be undertaken is to measure the exact height of the powerlines above your take-off point and ensure your flight stays well clear of them. It is worth noting that if the ground where the pylons have been installed is flat, the powerlines themselves will still tend to dip in the middle!
- With regulatory approvals for flights within an Atypical Air Environment beginning, this occurrence highlights the need to carefully assess the ground risk associated with the infrastructure that is being overflown.
- The potential for loose wires swinging in the wind at altitude, was a particular example highlighted by an operationally experienced Board member.
DJI Flight Log Viewer – PhantomHelp.com
