The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the Sept. 21 collision of a U.S. Army UH-60 helicopter with a small civilian drone near Staten Island, New York, NTSB said today. The helicopter sustained damage to its main rotor blade, window frame and transmission deck.
The drone was identified by NTSB as a DJI Phantom 4, a quadcopter-style unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that the manufacturer’s website says weighs 1,380 g (49 oz) and has a diagonal size of 350 mm (14 in), excluding the propellers. The helicopter landed safely after the collision.
A motor and arm from the drone were recovered by the Army. The drone operator has been identified and interviewed by investigators, and provided flight data logs for the incident flight, NTSB said.
NTSB opened an incident investigation because the drone was a civilian aircraft. DJI, the China-…
