Aircraft Went Down In A Residential Area, But Only Loss Was The Drone

A drone weighing about 100 pounds went down in the lawn of a home in Hills, Iowa last Wednesday, resulting in the loss of the $300,000 aircraft.

Radio station KXEL reports that the aircraft damaged some grass and Christmas ornaments at the home, but there was otherwise no damage to anything other than the drone.

Authorities said the aircraft, which has a wingspan of about 18 feet and is powered by a 100cc engine with a pusher propeller, was being controlled by a pilot operating at the Iowa City airport. He told Sheriff's Deputies that some equipment malfunctioned and he lost control of the aircraft.

The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that, according to a Johnson County Sheriff's Office news release, the drone was owned by the University of Iowa as part of a research project for commercial autonomy and optical imaging.

Anne Bassett, media relations director, said the Latitude HQ90B drone had been purchased "to test visual navigation functions for commercial drone applications."

Bassett said the flight was to have been limited to airport property, and it was not known why the operator lost control of the drone. The university will be conducting a review of safety procedures in an effort to avoid a similar incident during future tests.

The FAA and NTSB were notified, but the FAA said it does not accident involving UAVs weighing less than 300 pounds.

(Image courtesy of L3 Latitude Technologies via previous news release)

FMI: Source report
Source report