A drone landing at Lydd Airport unexpectedly lost power in both its engines, prompting a quick response from an external pilot, a report has revealed.

An investigation was carried out by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) following the 'serious' incident at Romney Marsh's airport last December.

The unmanned aircraft - a Tekever AR5 Evolution Mk 2 - had been flying over the English Channel and coming into land when the external pilot on the runway became aware he could not hear its engines.

As such, the pilot took control of the drone and landed it without incident.

A report looking into the incident says the dual engine shutdown was likely to have been caused by an on-aircraft data error.

This error saw the 'ignition off' command being detected by the autopilot after which the engines shut down.

The incident last December followed a similar 'ignition off' signal six months earlier in Portugal during a ground test.

As a result of the operator’s investigation into the first event, design changes were made to the aircraft to limit the effect of interference, not all of which had been implemented by the time of the second event.

Following this second event, a number of additional safety actions have been taken by the operator, including improvements to the aircraft’s hardware and software, and the Ground Control Station software.

These will reduce the risk of a reoccurrence, the report states.

The AAIB's report described the incident at Lydd as 'serious', adding: "While the unmanned aircraft was orbiting south of the runway in preparation for landing, both engines were commanded to shut down due to a spurious ‘Ignition OFF’ signal being detected by the autopilot.

"It was likely to have been caused by electromagnetic interference from the aircraft’s generator power unit corrupting some data on the radio channel used by the external pilot (EP) to control the aircraft.

"The EP on the ground, who was visual with the aircraft, took control and landed it without further incident."

It is not known why the drone was flying over the English Channel.

The Tekever website states: "The 'Tekever AR5 is the most advanced medium-altitude, medium-endurance fixed wing UAS in the market.

"Missions such as Search & Rescue, Maritime Surveillance and Maritime Patrol benefit from the higher capability, increased endurance and reduced operating costs offered by the TEKEVER AR5."

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