Date:	Sunday 4 April 2021
Time:	11:12
Type:	DJI Inspire 2
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	Unregistered
MSN:	N/K
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	Covent Garden, Borough of Westminster, London WC2 -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Survey
Departure airport:	Covent Garden, Borough of Westminster, London WC2
Destination airport:	Covent Garden, Borough of Westminster, London WC2
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
4 April 2021: UAS DJI Inspire 2: Substantially damaged when crashed at Covent Garden, Borough of Westminster, London WC2. The incident was the subject of an AAIB Record-only Investigation, published on 8 July 2021, and the following is the summary from the AAIB Report

"The UAS was in a stable hover while the operator was looking at the screen. The UAS flew into a nearby building before falling to the ground".

Damage Sustained to UAS
Per the AAIB report "the UAS collided with a building and fell to the ground". It is therefore presumed that the damage sustained was significant due to impact damage sustained.

Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square (closed in the mid-1970s), now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, itself known as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

1. AAIB Record-only UAS investigations April-May 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/aaib-record-only-uas-investigations-reviewed-april-may-2021/aaib-record-only-uas-investigations-reviewed-april-may-2021
2. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6114e0b4e90e07054a62c495/DJI_Inspire_2_040421_08-21_Correction.pdf [Correction]
3. https://www.dji.com/uk/inspire-2/features
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covent_Garden

Other occurrences involving this aircraft


17 December 2019	unregistered	Private	0	Lake Vyrnwy, Powys		sub
19 January 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Ewhurst Park Lake, Ewhurst Park Ewhurst Tadley Hampshire RG26 5RF		w/o
13 February 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Bentwaters Park, Rendlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 2TW		w/o
8 June 2020	Unregistered	Merlin Entertainments Ltd (Thorpe Park)	0	Thorpe Park, Staines Road, Thorpe, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 8PN		w/o
17 July 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Immingham, South Humberside		sub
7 November 2020	Unregistered	Anglesey Drone Media Services	0	Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Gwynedd		sub
2 December 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Oakham, Rutland		sub
Collision with pole or wires
9 December 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Selattyn Hill, Oswestry Uplands, Oswestry, Shropshire		sub
15 December 2020	Unregistered	Private	0	Canary Wharf,West India Docks, Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets, London E14		sub
11 June 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Hawkstone Park Motocross Circuit, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire		sub
5 September 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Barnsley, South Yorkshire		sub
13 December 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Traquair Forest, Traquair, Innerleithen, 7 miles South of Peebles		sub
15 December 2021	Unregistered	Private	0	Ipswich, Suffolk		sub
31 January 2023	unregistered	Private	0	Near Slough, Berkshire		sub
7 February 2023	unregistered	Private	0	Cantley Park, 108 Aintree Avenue, Doncaster, South Yorkshire		w/o
18 September 2023	unregistered	Private	0	near Northwich, Cheshire		w/o
17 October 2024	Unregistered	Private	0	Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland		sub

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Jun-2023 19:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated
09-Dec-2024 09:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]