Facebook tested a solar-powered drone designed to beam internet access to remote areas of the world in June for the first time, but the mission didn’t exactly go off without a hitch. Now a national safety agency is investigating an accident that happened during that test flight. Continue reading
Category Archives: Accident Reporting
Lightning Strike Brought Down Predator
An Air Combat Command accident investigation board report released Thursday said the Predator, forward deployed from the 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, crashed on Oct. 17, 2015, after “experiencing electronic systems failure and loss of control due to a lightning strike.” Continue reading
Two Stalkers Down in Two Days in Australian Airspace
Not much ever makes it into the general media about Unmanned Aerial Systems like the Lockheed Martin Stalker XE, but two of them were destroyed in accidents in Victoria last week that are now being investigated by the ATSB.
UK MoD and CAA to ‘Test-Crash’ Drones
Drones will be deliberately smashed into passenger jets as part of a radical testing programme triggered by fears of a catastrophe in British skies. Ministers ordered the tests after a series of near misses, some near major airports. Continue reading
Taliban Captures ScanEagle in Afghanistan
The Taliban militants group in Afghanistan has claimed to capture a surveillance drone in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.The group’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the drone was downed in Merano village of Behsud district of Nangarhar province.
Tech Issues Cause Most Drone Accidents: Research
Technical problems are to blame for the majority of drone-related accidents rather than their operators, according to researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Continue reading
Watchkeeper Crash at West Wales Airport
A multimillion-pound drone was scrapped after it crashed at a Ceredigion airfield, according to a declassified report.
Woman Dies in Car Chase after Flying Drone over Prison
A woman has died and a man has been left critically injured in a car accident after being chased by police over suspicions they were trying to fly a drone into a prison.