A police drone incident resulted in a child sustaining severe injuries when the drone crashed to the ground after striking an overhead cable that was overlooked by the operator, according to an investigation. The injured victim was promptly taken to a hospital in London for treatment after suffering a significant hand injury following the accident. The incident occurred on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent last August when police were responding to reports of an assault and deployed a DJI M30T drone to aid in the search for a suspect.
An officer from Kent Police quickly launched the drone, which subsequently collided with a cable that went unnoticed by the operator, as reported by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB). Following the incident, a Kent Police special inspector received a misconduct notice due to the drone causing serious harm to the child’s hand.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has initiated its own investigation into the matter, marking the first instance of the watchdog looking into an incident where a civilian in the UK was injured by a police drone. The drone, weighing nearly 4kg and equipped with a thermal camera, was deployed by Kent Police during the afternoon of August 2 to assist in locating a suspect.
A statement from the AAIB indicated that during the emergency response, the Unmanned Aircraft (UA) struck a telegraph cable upon takeoff, leading to a collision with a member of the public resulting in a hand injury that necessitated hospital care. The AAIB noted that the cable hazard was not identified during the swift deployment of the UA.
According to a spokesperson from Kent Police, the child, whose age remains undisclosed, was swiftly transported to a London hospital for treatment of the hand injuries. The spokesperson mentioned that Kent Police responded to the assault report on the Isle of Sheppey and deployed a drone in the search for the suspect. The drone hit an overhead cable during its operation, causing it to fall and injure the child’s hand. Kent Police made a mandatory referral to the IOPC, which is now conducting an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The AAIB spokesperson mentioned that a record-only investigation was conducted as they deemed a full investigation to be unlikely to yield new safety insights. The spokesperson emphasized that their role is to identify safety lessons from incidents to prevent future occurrences and that each notification is carefully evaluated to determine the appropriate level of investigation.
The IOPC spokesperson confirmed that an independent investigation is ongoing regarding the drone incident involving the child’s injury caused by the drone crash operated by Kent Police. The incident occurred on August 2 during the police response to a disturbance on the Isle of Sheppey. The drone collision with an overhead cable resulted in the child sustaining a serious hand injury. A misconduct notice has been served on a special inspector as part of the ongoing investigation, though this does not automatically lead to disciplinary actions.