Company faces charges after its drone crash-landed at condo
A commercial drone operator is set to be prosecuted, after a drone it flew crashed into a condominium development in one-north on July 19.
H3 Dynamics will face a charge of operating a drone in a way that may endanger lives and property, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Oct 25.
If found guilty, the company could be fined up to $100,000.
The drone pilot who operated the flight has been issued a 12-month conditional warning for the offence of operating the device without the required licence.
Another pilot involved in the drone flight has also been issued a 12-month conditional warning for failing to use a flight management system mobile application actively during the operation.
On the day of the crash, H3 Dynamics was conducting a series of flights from the Pixel Building at the one-north drone estate with the drone model, Hexadrone Tundra 2.
At about 6pm, the pilots lost control of the drone, which hit the facade of a building of One-North Residences, 200m away from its take-off location.
The drone crash-landed, resulting in a fire that was quickly put out by residents. There were burn marks on the floor, but no injuries were reported, CAAS said.
The authorities found that H3 Dynamics did not follow procedures in operations manual it submitted to CAAS. The drone was modified without approval, and one of the pilots was not licensed to fly it.
Following the incident, CAAS conducted two on-site audits on H3 Dynamics in August and September 2024, and issued four corrective orders, which the operator followed.
CAAS said it was satisfied with H3 Dynamics’ corrective actions, so from Oct 25, the company would be allowed to conduct aerial photography and videography again. It was suspended from these operations during the investigation.
However, H3 Dynamics will no longer be allowed to conduct drone operations for flight tests and demonstrations, CAAS said.
The company will also be subjected to increased frequency of safety audits after it resumes drone operations, CAAS added.
From Oct 25, CAAS also lifted the suspension on the Hexadrone Tundra 2 base model, with which it did not find any safety issues.
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