UK CAA – Temporary grounding of all Freefly Astro Aircraft

This Safety Directive contains mandatory action that is required to restore an acceptable level
of safety. It is issued in accordance with Air Navigation Order 2016 Article 248.
Recipients must ensure that this Directive is copied to all members of their staff who need to take
appropriate action or who may have an interest in the information (including any ‘in-house’ or contracted
maintenance organisation and relevant outside contractors).

Applicability:
Aerodromes: Not affected
Air Traffic: Not affected
Airspace: Not affected
Airworthiness: Not affected
Flight Operations: Not affected
Licensed Personnel: Not affected
RPAS: All RPAS operators – Open and Specific Category.

Introduction

1.1 The CAA has decided to issue this Safety Directive (SD) following the publication of Service
Bulletin (SB) SB-005 and SB-006 by Freefly. SB-005 recommends the immediate grounding of
all Astro aircraft due to an in-flight software failure causing a crash.

1.2 The purpose of this Safety Directive is to temporarily ground all affected aircraft – Freefly Astro
UAS – due to an in-flight software failure causing a crash and an ongoing investigation to
determine the root cause by the manufacturer.

2 Compliance/Action to be Taken

2.1 Immediately suspend all flight operations with Freefly Astro models as stated in SB-005, and
keep the aircraft grounded until Astro SB006 – Required Astro Firmware update has been
implemented by the aircraft operator. This is applicable to all Open and Specific category
operators who operate this aircraft type.

2.2 Operators should monitor any Freefly communications regarding these Service Bulletins and
required customer actions.

3 Further Information

3.1 Please refer to the manufacturer’s published SBs for further information, guidance and actions
required to be undertaken. https://freeflysystems.com/knowledge-base/astro-sb005

3.2 https://freeflysystems.com/knowledge-base/astro-sb006

4 Queries

4.1 Any queries or requests for further guidance as a result of this communication should be
addressed to: uavenquiries@caa.co.uk

4.2 Otherwise, queries should be addressed to the following e-mail address:
SafetyPublicationsTeam@caa.co.uk.

5 Cancellation

5.1 This Directive will remain in force until further notice.

Signed: MICHAEL MACDONALD
Date: 23 February 2023