Military loses control of helicopter drone near Washington

Source: CNN

A military test facility in southern Maryland lost control of an unmanned helicopter for about 20 minutes this month before reestablishing its communications and returning it to the airfield it took off from, a U.S. navy spokesman said.

The MQ-8B Fire Scout -- a drone helicopter -- took off from Webster Field at the Patuxent River Test Facilities on August 2 and lost communications during a pre-programmed flight, the spokesman said.

The aircraft traveled about 23 miles and entered National Capitol Region restricted air space, but never got closer than 40 miles to Washington.

NORAD -- the North American Aerospace Defense Command -- and the Federal Aviation Administration were both notified of the runaway helicopter, while operators worked to regain control, the spokesman said. It took about 20 minutes to re-program the aircraft and return it to Webster Field.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/25/runaway.helicopter/index.html?iref=24hours

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/us/26drone.html?src=mv

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38857999/ns/us_news-life/

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/08/navy-uav-enters-dc-082510/

You mean they have the technology to fly an airplane into a building if they wanted to?

What will they think of next...

if had been brought down by a kid with a slingshot.

WTCenters?

As a long time small plane pilot the thought of unmanned military aircraft operating in our airspace just scares the crap out of me. I'm guessing it's the intention of the military to only fly them in restricted areas, MOA's (military operating areas - these are only restricted when they're "hot"), or on published Military Training Routes. However, as in this case, they don't always stay where they're supposed to. One of the main ways that small planes keep from running into each other is "see and avoid", you're constantly scanning outside looking for other planes, and depend on other pilots to be doing the same. These military "robot planes" apparently fly where their computer tells them to fly, and half of the see and avoid equation is eliminated. If another plane is in their way - BOOM! Things can (and do) go wrong with the computers and systems controlling these things, and this is just another example.

I'm surprised there was not a "chase aircraft" following it. I'd bet there was, probably another helicopter. I'd also wager there was a "self destruct" mechanism, probably ejecting the blades. They operate on completely different systems than the control for this very reason. And I'd bet that the craft was flying a programmed route, they just couldn't send it on a new course. They probably knew exactly where it was headed and therefore weren't all that concerned.... yet.