Top Ten Reasons for Drone Crashes in Public Safety

And easy solutions to avoid them

It may seem unusual for MAXSUR, a provider of drones and drone services, to write about drone failures. But staying true to our mission of public safety, we believe sharing why drones fail—and how to prevent it—can help agencies avoid costly mistakes and keep their systems operational when lives depend on it. Our team has repaired more than 2,200 drones over the past five years, giving us unique insight into the most common causes of crashes.

Just as an auto mechanic learns from breakdowns, our technicians study each crash to understand contributing factors. That knowledge allows faster, more accurate repairs and has led us to identify the top ten reasons drones crash. Here they are, along with proven solutions every public safety agency should know:

1. Distance Misjudgement

Improper distance judgment, especially around powerlines and trees, is the leading cause of crashes. Even a slight strike can send a drone spiraling down. New obstacle avoidance sensors help but aren’t foolproof.

The Solve: Maintain a flight altitude above the highest nearby object.

2. Loss of Orientation & Situational Awareness

Pilots often lose track of the drone’s orientation, leading to incorrect control inputs and collisions.

The Solve: Keep the drone squared to the pilot and practice regularly to build intuitive control skills.

3. Poor Compass Calibration

Incorrect compass calibration can result in “fly-aways,” where drones navigate to erroneous locations.

The Solve: Calibrate away from concrete and metal, and recalibrate after location changes.

4. Battery Failure

Improperly maintained LiPo batteries can swell, give false readings, or fail mid-flight.

The Solve: Rotate batteries to avoid long-term full charge storage and discharge to 50% when not in use.

5. Motor Failure

Motors rarely fail suddenly; instead, symptoms build over time.

The Solve: Perform pre-flight checks, replace worn props, and maintain motors with compressed air.

6. Incorrect Flight Time Calculations

Misjudging available battery life, especially with headwinds, causes unexpected landings.

The Solve: Build in a time buffer and use co-pilots or timers to monitor battery levels.

7. Pilot Panic

Inexperienced pilots often panic in stressful situations, leading to poor decisions.

The Solve: Train consistently and learn recovery maneuvers, such as climbing to regain line of sight.

8. Rapid Vertical Descent

Drones can destabilize when descending too quickly into their own prop wash.

The Solve: Descend gradually or with pitch to avoid turbulence.

9. Ignoring Firmware Updates

Firmware updates often fix critical issues that can lead to crashes.

The Solve: Regularly check for updates and install them before missions.

10. Improper Center of Gravity (COG)

Unbalanced payloads strain motors and can cause catastrophic loss of control.

The Solve: Balance payloads front-to-back and side-to-side, keeping weight near the drone’s vertical center.

Thanks for reading—we hope this article helps your agency operate drones more safely and effectively in public safety missions.

Best regards,

Jake Lahmann
COO
MAXSUR