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20210711004119I

Incident · Destroyed
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FAA incident report · Aircraft · Mt Dora, FL · July 11, 2021

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

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Date
July 11, 2021 · 06:26 local
Place
Mt Dora, FL
Phase of flight
Other, Specify
Operator
L0SM
Damage
Destroyed
Aircraft
NONE
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

A law enforcement drone conducting a lawful mission on 7/11/2021 was shot down at approx. 0626 hours. Remote pilot privacy data omitted (privacy data omitted) was piloting a lake county sheriffs office (FL) issued drone (dji matrice M300 rtk) (privacy data omitted) in an overwatch mission to preliminarily clear a large (10 acre) warehouse complex that had been burglarized. Just before the flight ended, two shots were fired at the drone. It appears that one of those shots struck the drone in its lipo batiery causing an immediate fire onboard the drone. privacy data omitted Attempted to manuever the drone into an open landing area without success as the return to home feature and auto landing sequences had initiated due to rapid loss of battery power. The drone crashed on the roof of a nearby metal building and slid down due to the pitched roof where it got caught on a rain gutter and inverted itself off of the roof, inadvertently suspending itself away from the building while it burned out. The drone was a total loss (30K) however, no other damage occurred to any nearby property, structures or people.

As the FAA filed it

A LAW ENFORCEMENT DRONE CONDUCTING A LAWFUL MISSION ON 7/11/2021 WAS SHOT DOWN AT APPROX. 0626 HOURS. REMOTE PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ (^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^) WAS PILOTING A LAKE COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE (FL) ISSUED DRONE (DJI MATRICE M300 RTK) (^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^) IN AN OVERWATCH MISSION TO PRELIMINARILY CLEAR A LARGE (10 ACRE) WAREHOUSE COMPLEX THAT HAD BEEN BURGLARIZED. JUST BEFORE THE FLIGHT ENDED, TWO SHOTS WERE FIRED AT THE DRONE. IT APPEARS THAT ONE OF THOSE SHOTS STRUCK THE DRONE IN ITS LIPO BATIERY CAUSING AN IMMEDIATE FIRE ONBOARD THE DRONE. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ ATTEMPTED TO MANUEVER THE DRONE INTO AN OPEN LANDING AREA WITHOUT SUCCESS AS THE RETURN TO HOME FEATURE AND AUTO LANDING SEQUENCES HAD INITIATED DUE TO RAPID LOSS OF BATTERY POWER. THE DRONE CRASHED ON THE ROOF OF A NEARBY METAL BUILDING AND SLID DOWN DUE TO THE PITCHED ROOF WHERE IT GOT CAUGHT ON A RAIN GUTTER AND INVERTED ITSELF OFF OF THE ROOF, INADVERTENTLY SUSPENDING ITSELF AWAY FROM THE BUILDING WHILE IT BURNED OUT. THE DRONE WAS A TOTAL LOSS (30K) HOWEVER, NO OTHER DAMAGE OCCURRED TO ANY NEARBY PROPERTY, STRUCTURES OR PEOPLE.