Incident DJI Matrice 300 RTK Unregistered, Thursday 16 September 2021
ASN logo
 

Date:Thursday 16 September 2021
Time:night
Type:DJI Matrice 300 RTK
Owner/operator:Surrey Police
Registration: Unregistered
MSN: N/K
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Location:Oxshott Railway Station, Warren Lane, Oxshott, Surrey KT22 0TA -   United Kingdom
Phase: Approach
Nature:Aerial patrol
Departure airport:Oxshott Railway Station, Warren Lane, Oxshott, Surrey KT22 0TA
Destination airport:Oxshott Railway Station, Warren Lane, Oxshott, Surrey KT22 0TA
Investigating agency: AAIB
Confidence Rating: Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities
Narrative:
16 September 2021: DJI M300 RTK UAV sustained substantial damage when collided with a tree on approach to land at Oxshott Railway Station, Warren Lane, Oxshott, Elmbridge, Surrey KT22 0TA. The incident was the subject of an AAIB Record-only Investigation, published on 13 January 2022, and the following is the summary from the AAIB Report:

"Whilst flying the UAV at night during a missing person search, the operator chose to descend to his selected landing site whilst simultaneously translating forwards, rather than flying a vertical descent. The UAV struck a tree, which the operator had not seen during the landing approach, resulting in extensive damage to the UAV.

Damage Sustained to UAV
Per the AAIB Report, the UAV sustained "extensive damage".

Oxshott railway station serves the village of Oxshott, in Surrey, England. It is 16 miles 79 chains (27.3 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South Western Railway. The station is on the New Guildford Line, and is served by trains from Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham.

Sources:

1. AAIB Record-only UAS investigations reviewed: October - November 2021 (Published 13 January 2022): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/aaib-record-only-uas-investigations-reviewed-october-november-2021/aaib-record-only-uas-investigations-reviewed-october-november-2021
2. https://www.surrey.police.uk/police-forces/surrey-police/areas/au/about-us/our-equipment-to-aid-policing-in-surrey/
3. https://enterprise.dji.com/product-workspace/specs
4. https://www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/at-the-station/oxshott
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxshott_railway_station

History of this aircraft

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

26 September 2019 unregistered Private 0 Hillsborough Football Ground, Owlerton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire mis
1 October 2019 unregistered Private 0 Shearwater C PUQ Platform, North Sea, 200 km East of Aberdeen mis
2 December 2019 unregistered Private 0 Brittany Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex w/o
7 January 2020 unregistered Private 0 Training Ground (CFA) at Manchester City, Manchester sub
28 May 2020 Unregistered Dŵr Cymru/Welsh Water 0 Water pumping station, Prioress Mill Lane, Rhadyr, Usk, Gwent NP15 1QE sub
7 August 2020 Unregistered Hess Corporation 0 South Arne Wellhead Platforms East, Danish sector, North Sea sub
10 August 2020 Unregistered Shell UK Ltd 0 Gannet 'A' Oil & Gas Platform, North Sea, 110 miles East of Aberdeen sub
27 August 2020 Unregistered Private 0 Broxbourne, Hertfordshire sub
31 August 2020 Unregistered Private 0 Bath, Somerset BA1 sub
11 September 2020 Unregistered Private 0 Ipswich, Suffolk w/o
13 September 2020 Unregistered Arena Racing Company 0 Bath Racecourse, Lansdown Hill, Bath, Somerset BA1 9BU sub
23 September 2020 Unregistered Private 0 Perth, Perthshire, Tayside, Scotland w/o
13 December 2020 Unregistered Nottinghamshire Police 0 Mansfield, Nottinghamshire sub
26 January 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Carrington, Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester sub
17 March 2021 Unregistered Transport for London (TfL) 0 Silvertown Tunnel, North Greenwich, London SE10 sub
1 April 2021 Unregistered Private 0 West End, Surrey Heath, Surrey sub
Bird strike
14 April 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Guildford, Surrey sub
2 May 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk sub
6 May 2021 Unregistered Metropolitan Police 0 New Malden, Surrey sub
Collision with pole or wires
10 September 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Ilminster, Somerset sub
29 September 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Hillingdon, near Uxbridge, Greater London w/o
18 October 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Crawley, West Sussex sub
8 November 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Rhes-Y-Cae, Flintshire sub
22 November 2021 Unregistered Private 0 Keyworth, Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire sub
23 October 2023 unregistered Private 0 Colwyn Bay, Conway, Clywd, Wales sub
17 November 2023 unregistered Private 0 Carlisle, Cumbria sub
27 November 2023 unregistered Private 0 near Ripon, North Yorkshire sub
9 August 2024 Unregistered Wynyard Estates 0 Wynyard, near Hartlepool, County Durham sub
4 September 2024 Unregistered SSE PLC 0 near Rannoch Power Station, Loch Rannoch, Perth and Kinross sub
11 October 2024 Unregistered Private 0 Dunscroft, Hatfield, 6 miles South of Doncaster, South Yorkshire w/o
17 October 2024 Unregistered Private 0 River Thames, off Rotherhithe Pier, London SE16 w/o

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
07-Jan-2025 14:54 Dr. John Smith Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, ]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2025 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org