Air Accidents Investigation Branch
June 8
08:57
2023
Summary:
During an aerial survey flight, the UAS detected a rapid loss of battery power and initiated an immediate automatic landing. Whilst descending, its flight behaviour became erratic, control was lost to the remote pilot, and the UA struck an uninvolved person before hitting the ground. It was not possible to determine a cause for the loss of battery power or the flight behaviour. There may have been an opportunity during flight control checks to consider unexpected battery discharge rate as a reason to abort the flight.