Description

On 4 July 2019, an Alauda Airspeeder Mark II UAV being operated by the same company which had designed and manufactured it was making a demonstration flight at Goodwood aerodrome under a specific regulatory approval when the pilot lost control of it. The UAV climbed to 8000 feet into controlled airspace at a designated holding pattern for London Gatwick before its electrical power was exhausted and it descended at 5000 fpm and impacted the ground close to occupied houses half a mile from the takeoff point.

Investigation

A Field Investigation into the Accident was carried out by the UK AAIB focused particularly but not only on the way in which the operation during which control of the UAV was lost had been authorised by the UK Civil Aviation Authority as safety regulator. CAA personnel were present at the viewing point for the demonstration flight during which control was lost but the operator failed to file a mandatory report (MOR) with the CAA until more than two weeks after it had occurred. When asked by the Investigation who had submitted the MOR, the operator was unable to say and it subsequently became clear that its contents were not a correct description of what had happened.

Although a FDR was not fitted or required to be, there was enough recorded video of a high enough resolution from the two cameras installed on the UAV and from video and still cameras on the ground to enable successful analysis of its flight path during the event and derive its maximum achieved altitude and vertical speed during the subsequent terrain impact.