Scott County sheriff details how damage to drone occurred

BENTON, Mo. — A battery test in December resulted in a broken piece of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office drone, according to Sheriff Wes Drury.

The drone was purchased with funds raised by family and friends to honor Zackary H. Johnston, 23, of Scott City fell through ice off County Road 303 on Jan. 20, 2016, and died later of hypothermia.

Zackary Johnston’s mother, Marsha, had gone on Facebook to call the department “beyond disrespectful” for not informing the family of the damaged device.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Drury said two drone team members were tasked with troubleshooting issues with the drone’s battery, which had been showing signs of issues during flight.

The sheriff said that last year, the drone’s manufacturer, DJI, recommended and provided instructions for testing the drone to identify possible issues with the battery and voltage output. The test was conducted in the property room at the sheriff’s office, he said.

Drury said there were three reasons the test was performed in the property room: The Inspire 1 Drone is not designed to fly in colder weather or in strong winds as per the operations manual, citing page 46 of the manual. The weather Dec. 2, was 37 degrees with gusty winds from 15 to 25 mph; secondly, the drone only needed to be lifted off the ground approximately 24 inches to put enough strain on the battery for voltage testing; and the property room was large enough without any obstacles or barriers for the test to be conducted in a stable environment as compared to the outside conditions on this particular day.

“During the test, the drone was hovering about 2 feet above the floor when the motors suddenly stopped and it fell directly down, striking the concrete,” Drury said in the statement. “When team members approached, it indicated no power was being supplied to the drone.”

One of the team members pushed the power button, the drone reconnected, and the battery power dropped from 64% to 59%, according to Drury.

“At no time was the drone being ‘flown’ inside the building. The drone never struck objects, walls or the ceiling of the room. There is no evidence that either team member was negligent, inappropriate or reckless while operating the drone,” Drury said in the statement.

The crash resulted in the camera arm being broken, and DJI technical support was notified of the incident.

“The drone itself is still flyable and was flown in the months of March, April and May in attempts to diagnose the battery voltage issues.

DJI technical support advised team members the current model is out-of-date and DJI does not provide updates or parts for the Inspire 1 drone, Drury said.

From the time of the crash, drone team members have submitted proposals, recommendations and ideas on how to improve the drone program.

Grants were being identified to secure money for upgrading or replacing the drone to improve functionality and modernize its capabilities, Drury said.

“Scott County appreciates the drone program and values this piece of equipment,” the sheriff said. “However, the drone is in need of updating to be more versatile in its use during various weather conditions, emergency situations and improve flight distances.”