Insights into UAS Accidents and Incidents

The proliferation and extension of unmanned aircraft systems from military to civil and public use applications has rapidly outpaced the safety analysis that is normally associated with the introduction of a new and novel aircraft. Insights into the types of anomalous events associated with accidents and incidents involving civil and public use unmanned aircraft systems operating in the National Airspace System were derived from an information synthesis of archival publically available reports from the FAA Preliminary Reports of Unmanned Aircraft System Accidents and Incidents database, as recorded in the Aviation Safety Information and Analysis Sharing system. The vast majority of anomalous events were related to equipment failures, primarily lost link, distantly followed by a variety of non-equipment related events involving pilot/operator errors, such as altitude deviations, airspace violations, and procedural deviations. The identification of types of events associated with accidents and incidents provided insights for consideration when developing and implementing mitigation strategies for the design, training, and operation of unmanned aircraft systems