My drone crashed. What do I have to do?

Only if you were flying under Part 107, and only if the operation involved serious injury to any person, any loss of consciousness, or damage to property other than the drone itself above $500 to repair or in fair market value. Then 14 CFR 107.9 requires a report within 10 calendar days. Recreational flyers operating under the 49 USC 44809 exception have no FAA reporting duty for a crash.

No. Section 107.9 measures damage to property other than the small unmanned aircraft. A destroyed $2,000 drone that hit nothing else does not trigger an FAA report.

Not to the FAA, but the NTSB duty is separate and does apply. FAA AIM 11-8-4 says recreational flyers complying with 49 USC 44809 are not required to report crashes to the FAA, and that this does not relieve them of the requirement to report to the NTSB if the crash meets NTSB criteria. If someone suffers death or serious injury, notify the NTSB immediately whether you were flying for fun or for work.

Immediately, by the most expeditious means available, when the event is an unmanned aircraft accident under 49 CFR 830.2 or one of the serious incidents listed in 830.5. For a drone the accident test is death or serious injury to any person, or substantial damage to an aircraft that holds an airworthiness certificate. The Response Operations Center is 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290.

No, not any more. The old definition applied to unmanned aircraft of 300 pounds or more. That threshold was removed on July 14, 2022, and the current 49 CFR 830.2 definition turns on death or serious injury, or substantial damage to an aircraft holding an airworthiness certificate. A sub-250-gram drone that seriously injures someone is an accident; a 40-pound drone that hits nothing is not.

The NTSB defines it in 49 CFR 830.2 as any injury which: (1) Requires hospitalization for more than 48 hours, commencing within 7 days from the date the injury was received; (2) results in a fracture of any bone (except simple fractures of fingers, toes, or nose); (3) causes severe hemorrhages, nerve, muscle, or tendon damage; (4) involves any internal organ; or (5) involves second- or third-degree burns, or any burns affecting more than 5 percent of the body surface. A cut that needs a few stitches is generally not a serious injury; a broken arm is.

If the event requires NTSB notification, no. Under 49 CFR 830.10 the operator must preserve the wreckage and all records, including flight logs, until the NTSB takes custody or grants a release. You may move it only to free an injured person, protect the wreckage from further damage, or protect the public, and you should photograph and sketch the original position first. If no notification is required, photograph everything anyway before you touch it.

A flyaway with no injury and no damage to other property usually triggers neither rule. Two things still matter: 49 CFR 830.5 lists flight control system malfunction or failure among the serious incidents requiring immediate notification, so describe a genuine control failure to the NTSB rather than deciding for them; and a NASA ASRS report is voluntary, confidential, and exactly what that system is for.

Theft is not an FAA or NTSB reporting event. File a police report and keep the report number, since insurers and manufacturers generally require it. Record the aircraft serial number and your FAA registration number, and keep the registration active while the report is open, because it is the record tying that serial number to you.