Government UAS pilot reported they lost control of the UAS after launch. The reporter believes a GPS error caused the loss of control.

Narrative

On Day 0 at about XA:40 I responded to the scene to assist members of the Police Department with locating an endangered missing person. Upon arrival; I made contact with the on-scene officers as well as a K-9 unit. Once advised that K-9 was going to begin tracking I began to set up my issued drone for operation to further assist. It should be noted; although the weather report called for fog in the area; the immediate are where we were to be working was clear of fog and I observed a clear ceiling estimated at 200 feet for operation. After obtaining the drone; loading batteries; activating the power up sequence and placing it on the ground I obtained the remote and began the same. Once the remote was powered up and a connection was made with the drone; I began to check its other statuses (gimbal and compass calibrations; GPS stabilization and satellite connections) to ensure it was ready for flight. It was during this time I noted the calibrations were showing connected and receiving great reception; the GPS was illuminated in green (indicating it was connected) and the satellite connection was showing connectivity to 14 satellites. I did not note any discrepancies on or about the drone and began to activate it. Once the remote activated the drone; I began to elevate it to about 10 feet to continue with pre-mission operation checks of the spin and horizontal tests. As the drone began to elevate to the required height; I noted the props of the drone began to accelerate to an abnormal speed. As I began to give the drone commands via the remote to conduct the spin and horizontal checks; I noted an abnormal rattling sound emitting from the drone. It was at this moment I began to give the drone commands via the remote to land. As this occurred; I observed the drone fail to land and it rather began to ascend in altitude (to about 100 feet). As the drone was ascending; I continued to give the drone commands to return to home and land. The drone began to respond and lower its altitude; however; it began to fight the landing orders and began to rapidly ascend a second time upward. I again began to gain control of the drone and bring it down to land. As I continued to hold the remote stick down to bring it back to land; I noted it was traveling downward at an accelerated rate. I began to try and slow the drone by lifting the stick; however; the drone did not respond in a positive fashion. The drone continued to lower itself in a quick fashion until the bottom of the drone struck the left A-pillar of a nearby parked vehicle. The drone vaulted itself from the vehicle; causing it to land up-side-down upon the asphalt parking lot. As I responded to recover the drone; I noted the left front arm had sustained damage as it was broken in half. Several other props had been damaged as well; to include the front right landing leg. After recovering the drone; I began to inspect the above described vehicle. During this inspection I did note a small crack (BB-like impression) upon the lower left corner of the wind shield. I was able to make contact with the owner of the vehicle who confirmed that this crack was pre-existing. No other damage was noted at this time. Both the drone and the vehicle were photographed. At this time; I believe that the GPS stabilization system was not fully activated and when the drone was elevated it went into a system failure mode; thus causing the drone to climb to a safe 'return to home' altitude. It is unknown why the drone proceeded to land at such a high rate of speed and struck the vehicle.