# Incident 20250320002059I: Minneapolis, MN, March 20, 2025

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 20, 2025, 20:30 local time
- Place: Minneapolis, MN
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Maneuver
- Location: 44.9800° N, 93.2638° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Minneapolis, MN, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=44.9800&lon=-93.2638&mi=10
- Aircraft: NONE (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 0
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 10 total, 10 in this make and model, 2 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250320002059I

## Narrative

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

UA FA REGISTRATION NUMBER: FA3FKX4KWL

UA MAKE, MODEL, AND SERIAL NUMBER: DJI MAVIC 3 CINE, S/N 1581F4QZB21AR1AE00LF

REMOTE PILOT IN COMMAND (RPIC) CERTIFICATE:^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^

ON 03/20/2025, REMOTE RPIC WAS FLYING THEIR DJI MAVIC 3 CINE (FA3FKX4KWL) AROUND THE WELLS FARGO TOWER IN MINNEAPOLIS, MN WHEN THE DRONE COLLIDED WITH THE IDS CENTER LOCATED ACROSS THE STREET.

ACCORDING TO RPIC, THEY TOOK OFF FROM A 5TH STORY ROOFTOP TO CAPTURE IMAGERY OF THE ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ TOWER FOR COMMERCIAL USE.  RPIC STATED THE FLIGHT BEGAN WITH CAPTURING STILL IMAGES OF THE ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ TOWER AND WAS COMPLETED WITHOUT ISSUES.  RPIC STATED THEY WERE OPERATING THE DRONE MANUALLY AND WITHIN VISUAL LINE OF SIGHT (VLOS) THROUGHOUT THE OPERATION.

RPIC PUT THE DRONE INTO POSITION TO CAPTURE AN ORBITING SHOT OF THE TOWER.  AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE SHOT THE RPIC MISJUDGED THE AIRCRAFT’S DISTANCE TO THE IDS CENTER RESULTING IN A LOW-SPEED COLLISION WITH THE IDS CENTER.  RPIC STATED THAT AT THE MOMENT OF IMPACT THEY WERE OBSERVING THE DRONE THROUGH THE FIRST-PERSON VIEW (FPV) ON THEIR CONTROLLER.  THE DRONE WAS WITHIN LINE OF SIGHT, BUT THE RPIC WAS NOT PHYSICALLY WATCHING THE DRONE AT THE TIME OF IMPACT.

THE DRONE FELL TO THE ROOF OF THE IDS CENTER'S CRYSTAL COURT.  RPIC STATED IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE COLLISION THEY WALKED THE PERIMETER OF THE IDS CENTER BUT OBSERVED NO EVIDENCE OF INJURY OR DAMAGE.  RPIC BELIEVED THEY SAW DAMAGE WHEN THEY RETURNED TO THE IDS CENTER THE NEXT MORNING INSIDE THE CRYSTAL COURT.  RPIC NOTICED A BROKEN WINDOW NEAR THE LOCATION OF THE DRONE’S LAST KNOWN GPS POSITION.  RPIC DOCUMENTED THE DAMAGE, SENT IT TO THEIR INSURANCE PROVIDER, AND REPORTED THE EVENT TO THE FAA VIA FAADRONEZONE.

AS TIME WENT ON IDS CENTER MANAGEMENT CONCLUDED THAT THE DAMAGE WAS NOT CAUSED BY THE DRONE AND WAS ACTUALLY CAUSED BY FALLING SNOW/ICE EARLIER IN THE MONTH.  THIS MEANS THIS WOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A REPORTABLE UAS SAFETY EVENT UNDER 14 CFR 107.9.

IT WAS DETERMINED THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE INVESTIGATION THAT THE DRONE THE RPIC USED, DJI MAVIC 3 CINE, WAS IMPROPERLY REGISTERED AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT.  THE DRONE WAS REGISTERED AS A MODELIST WHEN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN REGISTERED AS A NON-MODELIST.  IT WAS ALSO DETERMINED THAT THE RPIC POTENTIALLY OPERATED THEIR DRONE OVER PEOPLE DURING THE COURSE OF THEIR OPERATIONS.  RPIC ADMITTED TO THESE FACTS DURING A MEETING ON 04/07/25.

IT IS OUR OPINION THAT THE RPIC BECAME DISORIENTED DURING THEIR OPERATION WHEN TRANSITIONING FROM VISUALLY WATCHING THE DRONE TO FPV ON THEIR CONTROLLER.  IT IS ALSO OUR OPINION THAT THE RPIC HAS A SAFETY CONSCIOUS ATTITUDE ABOUT FLYING AND THIS WAS MERELY AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT.  THE RPIC HAD DONE THEIR DUE DILIGENCE IN MAKING SURE THE AIRSPACE WAS CLEAR, AND THEY WERE NOT OPERATING IN AN AREA REQUIRING A LOW ALTITUDE AUTHORIZATION AND CAPABILITY NOTIFICATION (LAANC).

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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