Drone Manufacturer: DJI
Drone Model: Phantom
Country: United States of America
Type: Accident
Date: 2020-07-26
Applies: Nighttime
Pilot Qualifications: Unknown Status
Pilot Flight Experience: Unknown Hours
Link to External Information About This submission: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2020/07/27/drone-falls-on-police-car-at-scene-of-fatal-crash-in-sw-houston-officers-say/
File Uploaded: None
Description
HPD was investigating a fatal accident at 6600 Martin Luther King Blvd in Houston last night. A DJI Phantom drone began flying low overhead. It was flying so low that multiple people were trying to knock it out of the air. The drone flew away and came back, flying higher.
It struck a light pole, crashed into the hood of an HPD patrol vehicle. The HPD accident team was already on the scene for the fatal crash so they just turned and immediately began investigating this property damage.
The Phantom broke into three pieces on impact.
The owner of the drone walked up to the police and said that he was a professional photographer. He stated he was not piloting the drone, his 12-year-old daughter was. He refused to provide HPD with any identification and requested his drone back.
HPD has the drone in their property room and has notified the FAA regarding the incident.
Reported Cause
Unknown.