Part 91 UAS crew was conducting a test flight when they flew outside of their authorized testing area.

Narrative

Crew was test flying a remote piloted experimental helicopter at ZZZ. A NOTAM was filed for the R&D flight test. The helicopter was at the time remote piloted by a PIC from the ground control station; with 4 additional test crew. Crew flown the aircraft outside of the area of operations as designated by Certificate Of Waiver or Authorization (COA). COA at ZZZ limits the area of operation using geographical coordinates surrounding the runway; the aircraft was flown estimated 1200 ft. past the designated limit to the west of the runway for less than 10 minutes. COA at ZZZ also limits altitude to 200 ft. AGL; the aircraft was flown at an estimated altitude of 725 ft. AGL for less than 10 minutes.Crew has hosted an internal incident review and analyzed the causes of the incident. It was due to the crew focusing on flight test data capture and did not pay attention to the area and altitude limitations.Crew has also concluded to make following improvements to prevent future incidents: 1) implement geo-fencing technologies; 2) include COA limitations in every pre-flight briefing; 3) enhance training on Incident Review process and Safety Risk and Management; 4) request to FAA to expand COA limitations for R&D flight test purposes.