SINGAPORE: CAAS Suspends Drone Model After Crash at One-North Condo, The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has suspended the drone operations of a commercial unmanned aircraft (UA) operator and halted the use of a specific drone model. This action follows a crash involving the drone at a condominium in the one-north area on Jul 19.
On that day, the operator of the drone, H3 Dynamics Holdings, conducted a series of unmanned aircraft (UA) flights using the Hexadrone TUNDRA 2 at the One-North drone estate, according to CAAS on Tuesday. The flights were focused on developing a command control station for the UA over the PIXEL building premises.
“At about 6pm, during its eighth flight of the day, the UA flew outside of its approved activity area and crash-landed on the grounds of One-North Residences,” added the authority.
While no injuries were reported from the incident, CAAS stated that it “takes a serious view of this incident and is conducting a full investigation.”
In 2018, one-north was designated as Singapore’s first drone estate to “facilitate the trial of innovative UA systems technologies and commercial use-cases in a controlled urban environment”, according to the authority’s website.
Approved operators and research users can carry out their drone trials and operations at one-north without compromising safety and security as part of the initiative.
Preliminary findings have revealed there was a malfunction of the UA’s positioning sensors, which caused it to deviate from its planned flight, CAAS said.
While the authority noted that there are no other Hexadrone TUNDRA 2 models registered for use in Singapore, other than the one that was operated by H3 Dynamics Holdings, it urged all UA operator permit holders to review their safety procedures and processes.
