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Military loses drone in Lake Ontario — Parallax Forums

Military loses drone in Lake Ontario

Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
edited 2013-11-13 11:46 in General Discussion
http://news.yahoo.com/military-could-help-looking-drone-lost-lake-ontario-144230402.html

A $4 million military drone plopped out of the sky into Lake Ontario and now nobody can find it. The National Guard reported that one of its flying robots plummeted into the eastern part of the lake around 1 p.m. yesterday, but had to give up searching for it because of bad weather.
The MQ-9 Reaper was on a practice mission over the military-controlled waters when it suddenly crashed about three hours into its session. The unarmed drone was being operated from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing in Syracuse. A Coast Guard vessel and helicopter were deployed to find it, but, uh, couldn't.

It's unclear what caused it to go down.

For now, other missions involving the Reapers have been cancelled with a board from the Air Force taking control of the investigation. At a press conference, Col. Greg Semmel explained the situation as best as he could:
"The mission was going as advertised, up to the point where we did lose control of the airplane," he said, adding that there were no injuries presumably because the drone is unmanned and the lake is very cold this time of year.

So, if you see something, say something.

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2013-11-13 10:13
    ... there were no injuries presumably because the drone is unmanned and the lake is very cold this time of year."
    I'm sure the chill water was highly contributory to the lack of injuries. :)

    -Phil
  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2013-11-13 10:23
    http://news.yahoo.com/military-could-help-looking-drone-lost-lake-ontario-144230402.html
    ... but had to give up searching for it because of bad weather.
    ... It's unclear what caused it to go down.
    Maybe the weather had something to do with it going down. :)

    Anybody have a $4 million RC submarine to go search for the $4 million drone? It seems like they should have the precise GPS coordinates where it when down.
  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2013-11-13 10:26
    I'm sure the chill water was highly contributory to the lack of injuries. :)

    -Phil
    I've always wondered why there are fewer boating-related injuries in the winter than in the summer. I guess cold water hurts less than warm water.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2013-11-13 11:46
    Interesting, wonder if they lost radio contact or lost contact with GPS?

    My satellite radio always blanks out in parking garages or under other large objects like Redwoods.
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