Fri, Aug 27, 2010
Ground Controllers Lost Contact, Fire Scout Flew On
A Navy rotary-wing UAV made an incursion into the restricted
airspace near Washington DC August 2nd when its operators lost
contact with the aircraft.
File Photo
A Navy spokesman said Wednesday that the crew operating the
MQ-8B Fire Scout was able to re-establish communications with the
aircraft and fly it back to its base in Maryland, but not before it
got within about 40 miles of Washington, inside the Air Defense
Identification Zone surrounding the Capitol. He did not say if
anyone on the ground was "alarmed" by the aircraft.
The New York Times reports that the Navy has now
grounded all six of its Fire Scout aircraft until they can
determine why the one went astray. The Navy is officially saying
there was a "software issue" with the system. Navy spokesman
Commander Danny Hernandez told the paper that when contact is lost,
there is a program that is supposed to immediately tell the
aircraft to return to its base. That did not happen.
File Photo
When the link was lost, the aircraft was flying at about 2,000
feet AGL about 75 minutes into its test flight from Patuxent River
Naval Air Station. It continued about 23 miles NNW and penetrated
the restricted airspace around the national capitol area before the
crew re-established control.
“We are in the final stages of the investigation and plan
on briefing leadership next week,” Firescout program manager
Capt. Tim Dunigan said in a statement released Wednesday. “We
anticipate resuming flight operations in early
September.”
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