Factors affecting unmanned aerial vehicles’ safety: A post-occurrence exploratory data analysis of drones’ accidents and incidents in Australia

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have made life easier in many ways, and their applications in civil practice are increasing rapidly. However, this benefit is not entirely risk-free, as unwanted accidents and incidents can cause serious harm and interrupt other aerial activities. In this paper, we investigate a dataset of UAV accidents and incidents in Australia and put up some precautionary exercises to reduce the risk of future events. To that end, univariate and bivariate distributions of past events are analysed, and the exploratory factor analysis technique is used to identify frequent accident and incident patterns. The findings show that equipment issues or/and lack of coordination between aerial activities are two of the accidents and incidents categories; therefore, necessitating regular safety inspections for UAVs and establishing an integrated monitoring system for aerial activities are expected to reduce the risk of accidents and incidents.