More than 400 U.S.

drones have crashed since 01,

hitting homes, roads
June 21, 2014
More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world
since 2001, a record o calamity that e!"oses the "otential dangers o throwing o"en #merican
s$ies to drone traic, according to a year%long &ashington 'ost investigation.
Since the out(rea$ o the wars in #ghanistan and )ra*, military drones have malunctioned in
myriad ways, "lummeting rom the s$y (ecause o mechanical (rea$downs, human error, (ad
weather and other reasons, according to more than +0,000 "ages o accident investigation
re"orts and other records o(tained (y ,he 'ost under the -reedom o )normation #ct.
.ommercial drone lights are set to (ecome a wides"read reality in the United States, starting
ne!t year, under a 2012 law "assed (y .ongress. /rone lights (y law enorcement agencies
and the military, which already occur on a limited (asis, are "rojected to surge.
,he documents o(tained (y ,he 'ost detail scores o "reviously unre"orted crashes involving
remotely controlled aircrat, challenging the ederal governments assurances that drones will
(e a(le to ly saely over "o"ulated areas and in the same airs"ace as "assenger "lanes.
Military drones have slammed into homes, arms, runways, highways, waterways and, in one
case, an #ir -orce .%100 1ercules trans"ort "lane in midair. 2o one has died in a drone
accident, (ut the documents show that many catastro"hes have (een narrowly averted, oten (y
a ew eet, or a ew seconds, or "ure luc$.
3#ll ) saw were tents, and ) was araid that ) had $illed someone,4 #ir -orce Maj. 5ichard
&ageman told investigators ater an accident in 2ovem(er 2006, when he lost control o a
'redator that "lowed into a U.S. (ase in #ghanistan. 3) elt num(, and ) am certain that a ew
cuss words came out o my mouth.4
)nvestigators were una(le to "in"oint a deinitive cause or the accident (ut said wind and an
aggressive turn (y the "ilot were actors. &ageman did not res"ond to a re*uest or comment
through an #ir -orce s"o$eswoman.
Several military drones have sim"ly disa""eared while at cruising altitudes, never to (e seen
again. )n Se"tem(er 2007, an armed 5ea"er drone, with a 88%oot wings"an, lew on the loose
across #ghanistan ater its handlers lost control o the aircrat. U.S. ighter jets shot it down as
it neared ,aji$istan.
,he documents descri(e a multitude o costly mista$es (y remote%control "ilots. # 90.6 million
'redator carrying a 1ellire missile cratered near :andahar in January 2010 (ecause the "ilot
did not reali;e she had (een lying the aircrat u"side%down. <ater that year, another armed
'redator crashed near(y ater the "ilot did not notice he had s*uee;ed the wrong red (utton on
his joystic$, "utting the "lane into a s"in.
&hile most o the malunctioning aircrat have "erished in com(at ;ones, do;ens have (een
destroyed in the United States during test and training lights that have gone awry.
)n #"ril, a 0=+%"ound #rmy drone crashed ne!t to an elementary%school "layground in
'ennsylvania, just a ew minutes ater students went home or the day. )n U"state 2ew >or$,
the #ir -orce still cannot ind a 5ea"er that has (een missing since 2ovem(er, when it "lunged
into <a$e ?ntario. )n June 2012, a 2avy 5@%4 surveillance drone with a wings"an as wide as a
Aoeing =+=Bs nose%dived into Marylands Castern Shore, igniting a wildire.
/eense /e"artment oicials said they are conident in the relia(ility o their drones. Most o
the crashes occurred in war, they em"hasi;ed, under harsh conditions unli$ely to (e re"licated
in the United States.
Military statistics show the vast majority o lights go smoothly and that misha" rates have
steadily declined over the "ast decade. ?icials ac$nowledge, however, that drones will never
(e as sae as commercial jetliners.
3-lying is inherently a dangerous activity. >ou dont have to loo$ very ar, unortunately, to see
e!am"les o that,4 said /y$e &eatherington, director o unmanned warare or the 'entagon. 3)
can loo$ you s*uare in the eye and say, a(solutely, the D/eense /e"artmentE has got an
e!ce"tional saety record on this and were getting (etter every day.4
,he 'osts analysis o accident records, however, shows that the military and drone
manuacturers have yet to overcome some undamental saety hurdlesF
G A limited ability to detect and avoid trouble. .ameras and high%tech sensors on a drone
cannot ully re"lace a "ilots eyes and ears and nose in the coc$"it. Most remotely controlled
"lanes are not e*ui""ed with radar or anti%collision systems designed to "revent midair
disasters.
G Pilot error. /es"ite "o"ular "erce"tions, lying a drone is much tric$ier than "laying a video
game. ,he #ir -orce licenses its drone "ilots and trains them constantly, (ut mista$es are still
common, "articularly during landings. )n our cases over a three%year "eriod, #ir -orce "ilots
committed errors so egregious that they were investigated or sus"ected dereliction o duty.
G Persistent mechanical defects. Some common drone models were designed without (ac$u"
saety eatures and rushed to war without the (eneit o years o testing. Many accidents were
triggered (y (asic electrical malunctionsH others were caused (y (ad weather. Military
"ersonnel (lamed some misha"s on ine!"lica(le "ro(lems. ,he crews o two doomed 'redators
that crashed in 2006 and 2007 told investigators that their res"ective "lanes had (een
3"ossessed4 and "lagued (y 3demons.4
G Unreliable communications links. /rones are de"endent on wireless transmissions to relay
commands and navigational inormation, usually via satellite. ,hose connections can (e ragile.
5ecords show that lin$s were disru"ted or lost in more than a *uarter o the worst crashes.
#mong the models that crashed most oten is the M@%1 'redator, the #ir -orce drone
manuactured (y Ieneral #tomics #eronautical Systems, o San /iego. #lmost hal the
'redators (ought (y the #ir -orce have (een involved in a major accident, according to
"urchasing and saety data.
Accidents span globe
/rones have revolutioni;ed warare. 2ow they are "oised to revolutioni;e civil aviation. Under
the law "assed (y .ongress, the -ederal #viation #dministration is scheduled to issue rules (y
Se"tem(er 201+ that will (egin the wides"read integration o drones into civilian airs"ace.
'ent%u" demand to (uy and ly remotely controlled aircrat is enormous. <aw enorcement
agencies, which already own a small num(er o camera%e*ui""ed drones, are "rojected to
"urchase thousands moreH "olice de"artments covet them as an ine!"ensive tool to "rovide
(irds%eye surveillance or u" to 24 hours straight.
Ausinesses see "roita(le "ossi(ilities or drones, to tend cro"s, move cargo, ins"ect real estate
or ilm 1ollywood movies. Journalists have a""lied or drone licenses to cover the news.
#ma;on.com chie e!ecutive Jerey '. Ae;os wants his com"any to use autonomous drones to
deliver small "ac$ages to customers doorste"s.
,he military owns a(out 10,000 drones, rom one%"ound &as"s and our%"ound 5avens to one%
ton 'redators and 1+%ton Ilo(al 1aw$s. Ay 201=, the armed orces "lan to ly drones rom at
least 110 (ases in 07 states, "lus Iuam and 'uerto 5ico.
,he drone industry, which lo((ied .ongress to "ass the new law, "redicts 962 (illion in
economic (eneits and 100,000 new jo(s (y 202+.
'u(lic o""osition has centered on civil%li(erties concerns, such as the morality and legality o
using drones to s"y on "eo"le in their (ac$ yards. ,here has (een scant scrutiny o the saety
record o remotely controlled aircrat. # re"ort released June + (y the 2ational #cademy o
Sciences concluded that there were 3serious unanswered *uestions4 a(out how to saely
integrate civilian drones into the national airs"ace, calling it a 3critical, crosscutting challenge.4
JSourceF ,he &ashington 'ostK
Story /ateF June 21, 2014