An RQ-4 Global Hawk crashed into the waters off Spain on June 26th, 2018. The incident has not been previously disclosed to the public prior to inquiries by The Drive.
It marks the second loss of an RQ-4 in just over a year, with the other aircraft crashing into highly remote California wilderness near Mount Whitney on June 21st, 2017.
The Drive received the following information from U.S. European Command:
An RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft crashed off of the coast of Rota, Spain, at approximately 11a.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 26, 2018. No personnel were involved in the incident.
The Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE-8), assisted in the recovery of the downed RQ-4 Global Hawk in the vicinity of the Gulf of Cadiz. Prior to providing assistance, Arctic was conducting routine operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. In addition to the USNS Arctic, a 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 operating out of Zaragoza Air Base, Spain, launched on June 26 to aid in the recovery efforts.
Source: The Drive