The EASA has presented its Annual Safety Review 2025, which covers the safety record in aviation for the past year. After dedicating a separate chapter to UAS for the first time in the ASR 2024, the European Aviation Safety Agency once again lists in detail the accidents and safety-related incidents involving unmanned aircraft systems in its latest publication. The report lists a total of 21 incidents (2023: 20) involving drones in the territory of an EASA member state in 2024. Most of the incidents mentioned fall into the categories of “loss of control” and “airprox” (aircraft proximity hazard), i.e., a dangerous situation caused by an insufficient safety distance between two airspace participants.
Seven of the incidents involving UAS listed in the Annual Safety Review 2025 involved a manned aircraft (2023: 2). In addition to six safety-related incidents, there was one accident in 2024 when a small drone collided with a small aircraft at an altitude of 100 meters above a lake in Switzerland. The aircraft was slightly damaged but was able to continue its flight.
According to the Annual Safety Review 2025, the ground risk posed by unmanned aircraft is encouragingly low. After a fatal accident and a serious injury occurred at model airfields in 2023, EASA recorded no serious injuries or fatalities in 2024 as a result of accidents involving unmanned aircraft.
The professional and open handling of accidents and incidents is an important basis for maintaining a consistently high level of safety in both manned and unmanned aviation. The listing of collisions and other safety-related incidents involving UAS is therefore an important task with regard to the further establishment of the UAS/AAM industry in Europe. UAV DACH will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with industry, associations, and regulatory authorities to ensure the safe operation of UAS in an integrated airspace and to contribute to the implementation of sustainable “just culture” processes in unmanned aviation.