Date:	Wednesday 29 September 2021
Time:	day
Type:	DJI Phantom 4 RTK
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	Unregistered
MSN:	N/K
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Craignaw, Dungeon Hills, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Craignaw, Dungeon Hills, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Destination airport:	Craignaw, Dungeon Hills, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
29 September 2021: DJI Phantom 4 RTK UAV was written off (destroyed) when flew into a hillside (the Dungeon Hills) at Craignaw, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The UAV was supposed to have been programmed to avoid changes in the local terrain, but a programming error ensured that the UAV was programmed to fly so that it failed to avoid the rising ground in the locality. 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:

"The UAV collided with a hillside following a programming error whereby incorrect terrain elevation data was entered for the route."

Damage Sustained to the UAV
Per the AAIB report "the UAV collided with a hillside". It is believed that the UAV was destroyed (Written off/Damaged beyond economic repair) due to impact damage following a collision with the local terrain at speed.

Craignaw is a hill in the Dungeon Hills, a sub-range of the Galloway Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Unlike many hills in the Southern Uplands, Craignaw has a complex and rocky summit area, with a long line of crags and rough ground on the east side. The hill is largely composed of granite.

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.dji.com/uk/support/product/phantom-4-rtk
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Hills
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craignaw

Other occurrences involving this aircraft


22 May 2018	Unregistered	Private	0	Railworld, near Rivergate Shopping Centre, Oundle Road, Peterborough		w/o
17 June 2018	Unregistered	Private	0	Worcester, Worcestershire		sub
18 November 2019	unregistered	Private	0	Sunderland, Tyne and Wear		sub
3 December 2019	unregistered	Private	0	Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire		sub
4 December 2019	unregistered	Welsh Water	0	Alwen Forest, Mynydd Hiraethog/Denbigh Moors SSSI, Conwy		w/o
18 February 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Gainsborough, Lincolnshire		sub
30 April 2020	unregistered	Private	0	Warrington Cemetery, Manchester Road, Warrington, Merseyside WA1 3BG		unk
12 July 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Boston, Lincolnshire		w/o
28 July 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Drakelow, 2 miles South of Burton-on-Trent, Derbyshire		sub
27 August 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Margate, Thanet District, Kent		sub
Bird strike
31 August 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Luskentyre Beach, Lewis and Harris, The Outer Hebrides, Scotland		sub
22 September 2020	Unregistered	Magnox Ltd	0	Bradwell Nuclear Power Station, Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex		sub
29 September 2020	Unregistered	Bristol City Docks, Harbour Masters Office	0	Bristol City Docks, Dock Gate Lane, Hotwells, Bristol BS1 6XG		sub
19 November 2020	Unregistered	Essex Police	0	Colchester, Essex		sub
1 December 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Morley, West Yorkshire		sub
2 February 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Near Ropley, Hampshire		sub
5 March 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Near Sizewell, Suffolk		sub
9 March 2021	Unregistered	Hanson UK Materials Aggregates	0	Whatley Quarry, 4 miles West of Frome, Somerset		sub
20 March 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Altrincham, Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester		sub
4 April 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Holywell, Clwyd, Flintshire, North Wales CH8		sub
21 April 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Swindon, Wiltshire		sub
19 May 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Brent Cross, London Borough of Barnet, London NW4		sub
30 May 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Llanhilleth, Blaenau Gwent, Wales		sub
3 June 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Barnham, 3 miles South of Thetford, Suffolk		sub
22 June 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland		sub
28 August 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Stowe, 2 miles NW of Buckingham, Buckinghamshire		sub
6 October 2023	unregistered	Private	0	near Frome, Somerset		sub
5 November 2024	Unregistered	Private	0	near Lymington, Hampshire		sub

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Jan-2025 15:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, ]