SINGAPORE: A commercial unmanned aircraft (UA) operator will be charged in court after an incident where a drone crash-landed at a condominium in one-north area. H3 Dynamics will also no longer be allowed to operate drones for the purposes of flight tests and demonstrations, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said on Friday (Oct 25) after completing its investigations into the incident.
The company had been carrying out a series of UA test flights on Jul 19 involving TUNDRA 2, a drone made by French company Hexadrone.
Test flights were conducted from the PIXEL building, within the one-north drone estate - an urban environment designed for companies to trial drone use.
During its eighth test flight, the drone's pilots lost control of it shortly after take-off.
"The UA hit the facade of a building at One-North Residences approximately 200m from the take-off location and crash-landed," CAAS said.
A fire broke out, but it was quickly put out by residents. The incident resulted in damage to the drone and burn marks on the floor, but no injuries were reported.
CAAS began its investigation into H3 Dynamics after the incident, suspending the company's operations and the use of the Hexadrone TUNDRA 2.
The investigation has since ended, CAAS said, with the following key findings:
CAAS said that it takes "a serious view" of the contraventions.
H3 Dynamics will be charged in court under the Air Navigation Act for operating the UA in the manner that it ought reasonably to know could endanger the life or property of another person.
If found guilty, the company could face a fine of up to S$100,000 (US$76,000).
The person who operated the test flights has been issued a 12-month conditional warning for operating the drone without a UA pilot licence.
Another UA pilot involved in the flight has also received a 12-month conditional warning for failing to be in active use of the CFMS app during the UA operation.
After the incident, CAAS conducted two on-site audits on H3 Dynamics in August and September respectively and issued four corrective action notices to the company, which required it to review its operational control and ensure compliance with the operations manual approved by CAAS.
"H3 Dynamics has completed the corrective actions," CAAS said.
"These included updating the training requirements for their UA pilots and strengthening their safety procedures and processes, such as putting in place safeguards to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements."
CAAS said that it "has assessed H3 Dynamics’ corrective actions and is satisfied that H3 Dynamics is able to comply with the regulatory requirements to conduct a reduced scope of UA activities".
Effective from Friday, the suspension imposed on H3 Dynamics will be lifted by CAAS, although the scope of its operator permit will be limited to the conduct of aerial photography and videography only.
"H3 Dynamics will no longer be allowed to conduct UA operations for the purpose of flight test and flight demonstration."
The company will also be subjected to safety audits of increased frequency after it resumes UA operations, said CAAS.
As no safety issues were found with the base model of the Hexadrone TUNDRA 2, its suspension has also been lifted.
On Jul 23, CAAS had initiated an industry-wide safety review and required all UA operator permit holders to review their safety procedures and processes
On Friday, CAAS updated that all UA operator permit holders have completed their safety reviews.
The authority has enhanced its guidance materials "to provide greater clarity on flight test operations and UA modifications". Safety oversight surveillance on UA operator permit holders who perform UA modifications and flight testing through onsite audits has also been improved.
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