# Incident 20200917021049I: Auburn, MA, September 17, 2020

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 17, 2020, 19:00 local time
- Place: Auburn, MA
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Hover/Holding
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 42.1945° N, 71.8356° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Auburn, MA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.1945&lon=-71.8356&mi=10
- Aircraft: NONE (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20200917021049I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

UAS REGISTRATION: FA3YCLL49M

MAKE: DJI

MODEL: MAVIC 2 ENTERPRISE DUAL

SERIAL NUMBER: 298DG3E001292Y

RPIC STATEMENT BY OFFICER ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ AS FOLLOWS:

"UPON MY ARRIVAL, I JOINED AN ACTIVE SCENE WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, FIRE DEPARTMENT, DIVE TEAM MEMBERS,

AND CIVILIAN BOATERS SEARCHING FOR THE VICTIM IN THE WATER. AFTER MY BRIEFING FROM THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, I

DETERMINED THAT THE COMMAND POST WAS A SAFE AREA TO DEPLOY THE UAV. PRIOR TO STARTING MY PREFLIGHT

VISUAL CHECKLIST OF THE UAV, I DETERMINED THROUGH AN FAA APPROVED ONLINE SOFTWARE PROGRAM ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^

THAT I WAS IN CLASS G AIRSPACE WITH NO CURRENT AIRSPACE OR WEATHER RESTRICTIONS. THE CURRENT WEATHER

CONDITIONS ON LAND WERE LOW TO NO WIND, CLEAR, WITH LOW LIGHTING AS IT WAS DUSK. I DID OBSERVE NEWS

HELICOPTERS IN THE DISTANCE AT A MUCH HIGHER ALTITUDE. MY LOCATION WAS LAT 42.19241 AND LONG -71.8581.

I CONDUCTED A PREFLIGHT VISUAL CHECKLIST AND MOUNTED THE DJI SPOTLIGHT ATTACHMENT. INSIDE THE UAV WAS A

128GB SD CARD USED TO DOCUMENT PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO. A 2 MONTH OLD DJI BATTERY WAS ALSO USED FOR

THE FLIGHT.

WITH SPOTTERS FROM BOTH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND FIRE DEPARTMENT, THE UAV WAS FLOWN A DISTANCE OF

117FT FROM THE LAUNCH AREA OVER THE WATER, JUST BEYOND THE SHORELINE. THE UAV WAS POSITIONED 71FT ABOVE

GROUND LEVEL (AGL) AND MAINTAINED THAT LOCATION AS I WALKED A SHORT DISTANCE TO THE SHORELINE. THE UAV

WAS THEN LOWERED TO 33FT AGL TO BEGIN SEARCHING FOR THE VICTIM. AS THE UAV BEGAN TO ASCEND TO 37FT AGL

THE CONNECTION WAS IMMEDIATELY LOST AND THE UAV BEGAN TO SLOWLY DESCEND AND EVENTUALLY LANDED IN THE

WATER. THE UAV WAS SAFELY POSITIONED AWAY FROM ANY BYSTANDERS AND EXCEPT FOR THE UAV, NO OTHER

PROPERTY DAMAGE OCCURRED. A FEW MINUTES LATER, A GROUP OF FIRST RESPONDERS ON A NEARBY BOAT ATTEMPTED

TO LOCATE THE UAV BUT THEY WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. DURING THE ENTIRE TIME IN THE AIR, THE UAV REMAINED IN OUR

LINE OF SIGHT AND NO OTHER AIRCRAFT (OTHER DRONES, HELICOPTERS, PLANES) WERE IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA OF THE

UAV."

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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