20240917014839I

Incident · Substantial damage

FAA incident report · Aircraft · St. Cloud, MN · September 17, 2024

Date: September 17, 2024 · 22:15 local
Place: St. Cloud, MN
Phase of flight: Hover/Holding
Damage: Substantial damage
Aircraft: NONE
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 150 total1 in this make and model1 in the last 90 days

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.

Stearns county sheriff's office drone was coming out of monthly maintenance. A deputy was hovering the drone testing systems and noticed that the drone was not responding to inputs from the controller as indicated. A second deputy approached and tried to troubleshoot the issue while drone was still hovering. The second deputy pushed the control stick forward and the drone flew straight into a vehicle causing damage to the drone, and $2,500 in damage to the vehicle.

As the FAA filed it

STEARNS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE DRONE WAS COMING OUT OF MONTHLY MAINTENANCE. A DEPUTY WAS HOVERING THE DRONE TESTING SYSTEMS AND NOTICED THAT THE DRONE WAS NOT RESPONDING TO INPUTS FROM THE CONTROLLER AS INDICATED. A SECOND DEPUTY APPROACHED AND TRIED TO TROUBLESHOOT THE ISSUE WHILE DRONE WAS STILL HOVERING. THE SECOND DEPUTY PUSHED THE CONTROL STICK FORWARD AND THE DRONE FLEW STRAIGHT INTO A VEHICLE CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE DRONE, AND $2,500 IN DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE.