# Incident 20211212022739I: Murrieta, CA, December 12, 2021

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 12, 2021, 03:50 local time
- Place: Murrieta, CA
- Airport: N/A
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Other, Specify
- Location: 33.5539° N, 117.2139° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Murrieta, CA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.5539&lon=-117.2139&mi=10
- Aircraft: NONE (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20211212022739I

## Narrative

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

THE RIVERSIDE FSDO (RAL FSDO) WAS INFORMED THAT ON DECEMBER 12, 2021 A UAS HIT A POWER LINE IN MURRIETA, CA.  THE OPERATOR OF THE UAS WAS AN OFFICER FOR MENIFEE POLICE DEPARTMENT ASSISTING MURRIETA PD TRACKING A POTENTIAL SUSPECT.

THE OFFICER AND HIS OBSERVER, HIS SUPERVISOR, DECIDED TO MOVE TO A NEW LOCATION IN ORDER TO ATTEMPT TO GET TO ANOTHER VANTAGE POINT TO BETTER LOCATE THE SUSPECT.  AFTER RELOCATING, THE OFFICER LAUNCHED THE DRONE AND THE UAS STRUCK THE POWER LINE DURING ITS INITIAL CLIMB.

THE OFFICER STATED THE AREA WAS NOT WELL LIT AND BOTH HE AND IS OBSERVER WERE RUSHED TO LOCATE THEIR SUSPECT.  NEITHER NOTICED THE POWER LINES ABOVE THEM DURING THEIR QUICK SURVEY OF THE AREA.

UPON REALIZING THE UAS STRUCK THE POWERLINE THE OFFICERS REPORTED THE INCIDENT.  THE LOCAL POWER COMPANY WAS DISPATCHED AND THE POWER LINE WAS REPAIRED.

THE REMOTE PIC WAS DISPLAYED A COMPLIANT ATTITUDE AND BROUGHT BACK TO COMPLIANCE WITH COUNSELING AND A COURSE FROM THE FAAST WEBSITE.

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.
