On September 21, 2017, at 1920 eastern daylight time, a Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter, R20087, operated by the U.S. Army as CAVM087 ("Caveman 87"), collided with a privately owned and operated Dà-Jiang Innovations (DJI) Phantom 4 small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS). The collision occurred about 300 ft above mean sea level (msl) and 1 mile east of Midland Beach, Staten Island, New York, in the vicinity of Hoffman Island. The helicopter received minor damage, and the sUAS was destroyed. There were no injuries or ground damage.
We determined the probable causes of this incident to be the failure of the sUAS pilot to see and avoid the helicopter due to his intentional flight beyond visual line of sight.
Contributing to the incident was the sUAS pilot's incomplete knowledge of the regulations and safe operating practices.
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Final Report.
