The number of registered drone users with the CAA continues to grow as the hobby
becomes more popular and new users register. The drone and model aircraft code provides
guidance for flying drones, model aeroplanes, model gliders, model helicopters, and other
unmanned aircraft systems outdoors in the Open A1 and A3 categories.
There are approximately 720,000 active registered drone flyers and operators (21.4%
increase year on year)10 which consists of:
Approximately 450,000 active Flyer IDs
Approximately 270,000 active Operator IDs
There are over 21,000 remote pilots with Remote Pilot Competency Qualifications, and over
2,500 active Specific Category Operational Authorisations approved by the CAA.
There were 55 accidents and serious incidents involving RPAS during 2024, which is a 31%
decrease compared to 2023.
In 2024, 56% (31) of accidents and serious incidents were contributed to by loss of control
in flight, making it the most commonly reported event in connection to accidents. System or
component failure was the second most frequently reported accident in 2024.
Well, yes, but it would seem to indicate an overall reduction in accidents/incidents reported or not, despite the increase in the number of pilots and flights made. I’m assuming that accidents/incidents reported to the CAA come via police reports or complaints direct to the CAA from pilots of manned a/c in flight or ATC. and of course these will be a minority of actual accidents/incidents.
I backed into a tree last week, fortunately this particular tree wasn’t a dick and passed the drone gently from branch to branch to land it upright on the grass without a scratch. Using the screen map and ‘find my drone’ I was able to easily locate and retrieve it. I did not report it to anyone, in fact this is the first time I’ve mentioned it, because it’s embarrassing! If this counts as an incident, there are probably over a hundred nationally on a sunny weekend!
As everybody knows given how much I keep banging on about it, I lost a drone last year to birdstrike. Would DJI or my insurance company report this to the CAA? Probably not, but the downward trend of reported accidents/incidents probably represents a general reduction in their number and certainly in their rate of occurrence, despite what must be very considerable ‘underreporting’.
I know, shocking isn’t it! Early bed with no supper for you, Mr.Johnster… Is backing into a tree illegal? Stupid, certainly, but you can’t pass laws against having accidents, or (sadly) against stupidity. Or carelessness or overconfidence…
Shouldn’t be. There’s an easy portal to report anything that did or, just as importantly, might have caused injury or damage to people or property (including the aircraft).
720,000 is misleading figure as there will be many that have both flyer and operator IDs.
Also interesting that there are nearly twice as many Flyer IDs as Operater IDs, as you don’t (currently) need a flyer ID for sub 250g. I would have guessed there’d be more Operator IDs
Makes sense though - if I ever convince my wife to have a go flying, it’ll be with one of my drones and on my operator ID, she’ll just need the flyer ID. Think how many households there will be where a parent has a drone that their kids fly.
Keep in mind that the Op ID only lasts a year while the Flyer ID lasts for 5, so it could be that people have flown for a year and got both Flyer and Op id’s but after a year did not renew the Op ID, but the Flyer ID would still be valid for another 4 years.
So the Flyer ID’s are kind of stacking over 5 years.
