# Incident 20201203021369I: Milford, VA, December 3, 2020

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 3, 2020, 14:50 local time
- Place: Milford, VA
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Maneuver
- Location: 38.0232° N, 77.3733° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Milford, VA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.0232&lon=-77.3733&mi=10
- Aircraft: NONE (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 25 total, 15 in this make and model, 1 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20201203021369I

## Narrative

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

REMOTE CERTIFICATED PILOT, ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^, WAS OPERATING A MATRICE 210, REGISTRATION NUMBER FA34NX9H7W, WHILE CONDUCTING A A SUAS FAMILIARIZATION CLASS FOR NEW TEAM MEMBERS. ACCORDING TO ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^, HE WAS OPERATING THE SUAS AS THE PILOT IN CHARGE, AND WAS ATTEMPTING TO MANEUVER THE AIRCRAFT FOR BETTER IMAGERY OF THE CONTENTS OF A TRASH CAN LOCATED IN A SPORTS FIELD. THE SUAS WAS AT LEVEL FLIGHT AND MANEUVERING SIDE TO SIDE DURING THE INCIDENT. THE SUAS THEN MADE CONTACT WITH A TREE IN A WOODED AREA ON THE EDGE OF THE FIELD. BOTH ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ AND THE VISUAL OBSERVERS HAD A DIRECT, STRAIGHT LINE OF SIGHT WITH THE SUAS, AND ALL BELIEVED THE AIRCRAFT APPEARED TO BE LOCATED DIRECTLY OVER THE IMMEDIATE AREA OF THE TRASH CAN. INSTEAD, THE AIRCRAFT WAS APPROXIMATELY 70-80 FEET PAST THE TRASH CAN AND AGAINST A TREE LINE ON THE EDGE OF THE FIELD. THE IMPACT TO THE TREE CAUSED THE AIRCRAFT TO LOSE LIFT, WHICH RESULTED IN A SUBSEQUENT CRASH LANDING.  THE IMPACT OF THE TREE AND GROUND CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE PROPELLERS, FRAME ARMS, SHACKLES, CAMERA GIMBAL MOUNTS, RAIN SHIELD, BATTERIES, AND THE BATTERY MOUNTING SYSTEM.

THE FAMILIARIZATION CLASS WAS BEING HELD BY THE CAROLINE COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT, HOWEVER, THE OPERATION WAS NOT COVERED UNDER THE FIRE DEPARTMENT'S CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORIZATION (COA) FOR PUBLIC USE OPERATION.

THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE AIRCRAFT AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT.

SAS TASK ID: T-EA21-FY21-0135

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.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.