ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 296592
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| Date: | Tuesday 2 August 2022 |
| Time: | 08:52 UTC |
| Type: | DJI Matrice 200 |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZT-XDC |
| MSN: | 0FZDFAP0P30036 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Gamsberg Mine -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Gamsberg Mine |
| Gamsberg Mine | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A pilot operating a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) DJI Matrice 200 with registration ZT-XDC launched the RPA on a surveillance flight at Gamsberg Mine in the Northern Cape province. The flight was conducted Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) by day.
The pilot stated that this was the last surveillance flight over Tailings Dam in Gamsberg Mine. He was flying the RPA in a manual grid pattern when he noticed that the batteries were at approximately 43%. He then activated the Return-to-Home (RTH) button to command the RPA to return to the last recorded home point, which was the pilot’s position. The pilot was continuously monitoring the RPA via the remote-control screen, and whilst it was approximately 428 metres (m) away from the launch position, the RPA began to shake violently. He immediately searched for the RPA visually and observed it spiralling (right) towards the ground.
He then switched back to the manual remote control of the RPA and attempted to stop the RPA’s descent by applying the left control stick (controls up and downwards movement) but to no avail. The pilot did not observe any warning signals on the remote control; only the RTH audio was audible as the RPA spiralled until it impacted the ground.
The RPA was destroyed during the accident sequence; no person on the ground was injured.
Probable Cause
It is likely that the RPA experienced a failure of one of the electronic speed controllers (ESC), resulting in an uncontrolled right spin descent and impact with the ground.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
SA CAA
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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