# Incident 20210316003069I: Wasilla, AK, March 16, 2021

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 16, 2021, 15:15 local time
- Place: Wasilla, AK
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Approach
- Location: 61.5785° N, 149.4763° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Wasilla, AK, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=61.5785&lon=-149.4763&mi=10
- Aircraft: NONE (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 0
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20210316003069I

## Narrative

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

OPERATOR IS FBI UNDER COA 2019-AHQ-909-COA. UAS IS AN AEROVIRONMENT WASP FIXED WING UAS, SERIAL NUMBER 0094

FREQUENCY S BAND

MISSION ALTITUDE 400 FT AGL.

THIS WAS THE SECOND FLIGHT OF THE MISSION BEING FLOWN BY AN RPIC AND TWO VISUAL OBSERVERS.  THE FIRST FLIGHT WAS SUCCESSFUL.  ABOUT FIVE (5) MINUTES INTO THE SECOND FLIGHT, THE AIRCRAFT LOST COMMAND LINK AND INITIATED A PRE-PLANNED RETURN-TO-HOME PROCEDURE.  WHILE TURNING TO THE FINAL WAYPOINT, THE AIRCRAFT BANKED STEEPLY AND COLLIDED WITH A TREE.

LATER ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE UAS INVERTED WHILE IN A DESCENT TO LANDING (WHICH IS THE NORMAL LANDING SEQUENCE FOR THIS AIRCRAFT).  THE RPIC ADVISED HE REGAINED LINK AND TURNED TO AVOID A TREE.  THE UAS THEN COLLIDED WITH ANOTHER TREE. THE AIRCRAFT WAS RECOVERED AND SUSTAINED DAMAGE TO THE LEADING-EDGE OF ONE WING.  IT IS BELIEVED THE AIRCRAFT CAN BE REPAIRED.  THERE WERE NO INJURIES OR PROPERTY DAMAGE (OTHER THAN TO THE UAS). THE FBI IS  STILL CONDUCTING ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE IF THERE WAS A SYSTEM FAILURE OR OTHER REASON FOR THE INCIDENT.

CAUSAL FACTOR ? OPERATION IN REMOTE AREA WITH NO AVAILABLE RUNWAY. UAS LOST LINK WITH OPERATOR AND PERFORMED LOST LINK PROCEDURES. ON RETURN THE UAS WAS FLYING A PREPROGRAMED ROUTE TO AN UNIMPROVED AREA AND HIT A TREE. RECOMMENDATION- DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF LOST LINK AND UPDATE/REPAIR THE UAS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM. LEARN WHY THE RETURN PROGRAMMING HIT THE TREE. IF ABLE,  FINE TUNE THE PROGRAMING FOR BETTER RECOVERY OF UAS DURING LOST COM LINK. ACTIONS- FBI IS INVESTIGATING THE CAUSE OF THIS INCIDENT.

TASK SAS T-AL03-FY21-0449

ACTIVITY SAS AL03202102144

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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