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RPIC Station AE Manual
4. Emergency And Abnormal Procedures
Emergency Procedures
Propulsion System Failure

Propulsion System Failure

Andi Lamprecht Andi Lamprecht ·· 3 min read· Draft
Loss of Propulsion - Single Motor Out
WARNING: PROPULSION FAILURE DURING FLIGHT WILL RESULT IN LOSS OF LIFT AND DEGRADED FLIGHT PERFORMANCE, RESULTING IN HULL LOSS TO UNMANNED AIRCRAFT, OR SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO PERSONS, PROPERTIES OR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE (MAJOR)

INDICATIONS

  1. Warning messages about propulsion failure on Uncrew and AMC

    • Critical: ESC failure

    • Critical: Motor Failure

    • Critical: Motor(s) Not Responding

    • Warning: Attitude Control Lost

    • Critical: Flight Control Failure

    • Critical: Vibration Levels High

    • Emergency: System Failure - Landing

  2. Visual lack of propeller rotation

  3. Erratic flight behavior

NOTE: The redundancy of the coaxial motor configuration enables the aircraft to remain in stable flight in the event of a single motor failure.
NOTE: In the event of a dual motor failure, the aircraft can still remain airborne provided the two failed motors are on opposite arms from one another.

POSSIBLE CAUSES

  1. Propeller strike

  2. ESC or hardware failure

FAILSAFE BEHAVIOR

There is no Failsafe for this emergency.

PROCEDURE

AMC Warning Message “Motor # Timed Out” VERIFY

RPIC to inspect the yellow warning message that appears in the top middle of the AMC Fly View on the RPIC Tablet. Use this warning message to verify and identify a single motor out emergency.

EMERGENCY LOSS OF PROPULSION ANNOUNCE

The RPIC is to announce over voice comms “Loss of Propulsion” once emergency conditions are identified using the indications information above.

WARNING: Motor failure may result in degraded, intermittent, or complete loss of propulsion of impacted motor. Degraded control of yaw and altitude is expected. These conditions may result in significant damage to aircraft, persons, or property.

Uncrew: Return to Home Button SELECT

Select the Return to Home Button within the Mission Console on the RPIC Control Station.

Return to Home Button

Once the button is selected, a popup window appears requiring RPIC confirmation. This window will remain displayed until “CONFIRM” is selected or exit (“x”) is pressed.

Return to Home Confirmation

Once the command is confirmed, the aircraft stops performing the mission and begins navigating to the takeoff location. The aircraft maintains its altitude at the defined desired altitude. Uncrew navigates the aircraft so that all NFAs and perimeters are avoided. The Aircraft Status shall be Contingency.

At the takeoff location, the aircraft will begin descending for landing.

ArUco Tag REMOVE

The RPIC shall communicate to an available crew member to remove the ArUco tag from the landing location and ensure the tag is not visible from the sky.

Once in Landing Phase, Uncrew: Land in Place Button SELECT

Once the aircraft has completed the cruise phase and has transitioned to the landing phase, the RPIC shall prevent the aircraft from entering Precision Land mode by selecting the “Land In Place” (Land Now) button within the Uncrew Mission Console on the RPIC Control Station.

Land In Place Button

Once the button is selected, a popup window will appear requiring RPIC confirmation. This window will remain displayed until “CONFIRM” is selected or exit (“x”) is pressed.

Land In Place Confirmation

Once the command is confirmed, the aircraft will stop performing the normal descent for landing and will enter Land flight mode interrupting any other command. The Aircraft Status shall be Contingency. The aircraft will land in place and disarm after touch down.

CAUTION: The Uncrew Land in Place command should be used prior to the precision landing mode engaging and when directly over the landing location. If the precision landing mode is engaged and locks with a single motor out, a rapid landing will occur resulting in damage to landing gear.
Procedure Complete

If Return to Home fails:

Proceed to Click to Fly procedure

Procedure Complete
Last updated on
In-Flight Fire Above 110 ft AGL