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Incident · Collision

DJI Phantom 4 strikes a US Army Black Hawk over Staten Island in the first confirmed US civilian-drone / manned-aircraft midair collision

A recreationally flown DJI Phantom 4, operated about 2.5 miles beyond visual line of sight, collided with a US Army UH-60M Black Hawk at roughly 300 feet near Hoffman Island, New York. The helicopter sustained rotor-blade and window-frame/transmission-deck damage and landed safely; the drone was destroyed.

NTSB probable cause: the drone operator's intentional beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight and failure to see and avoid. Source: NTSB case DCA17IA202, ntsb.gov.

Occurred 2017-09-21 · DJI · Investigated by NTSB

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Track DJI Phantom 4 strikes a US Army Black Hawk over Staten Island in the first confirmed US civilian-drone / manned-aircraft midair collision

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Sources (2)

  1. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/default.aspx
  2. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/DCA17IA202.aspx

Common questions

What happened in DJI Phantom 4 strikes a US Army Black Hawk over Staten Island in the first confirmed US civilian-drone / manned-aircraft midair collision?
A recreationally flown DJI Phantom 4, operated about 2.5 miles beyond visual line of sight, collided with a US Army UH-60M Black Hawk at roughly 300 feet near Hoffman Island, New York. The helicopter sustained rotor-blade and window-frame/transmission-deck damage and landed safely; the drone was destroyed. NTSB probable cause: the drone operator's intentional beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight and failure to see and avoid. Source: NTSB case DCA17IA202, ntsb.gov.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on September 21, 2017 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Who was involved in DJI Phantom 4 strikes a US Army Black Hawk over Staten Island in the first confirmed US civilian-drone / manned-aircraft midair collision?
The incident is recorded as involving DJI on the DEPLOY registry. No specific robot model is linked to this incident in the registry.
Has anyone responded to DJI Phantom 4 strikes a US Army Black Hawk over Staten Island in the first confirmed US civilian-drone / manned-aircraft midair collision?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of DJI Phantom 4 strikes a US Army Black Hawk over Staten Island in the first confirmed US civilian-drone / manned-aircraft midair collision?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (2 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-09

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-09

Sources by quality tier

2
primary-government-record
Government record

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for DJI Phantom 4 strikes a US Army Black Hawk over Staten Island in the first confirmed US civilian-drone / manned-aircraft midair collision.

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Canonical ID ccdbf846-cf0e-4a2d-a6e9-07233127ccef