In this video screenshot, an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper takes off from Campia Turzii Air Base in Romania in 2021. Human error caused a Reaper to crash near the base July 14, 2022, an Air Combat Command investigation concluded. (U.S. Air Force)
Human error caused a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper to crash last summer near an air base in Romania, resulting in a loss of more than $14 million, an investigation found.
The drone smashed into a cornfield outside the 71st Air Base in Campia Turzii on July 14, 2022, according to local media reports.
No injuries and minimal damage to civilian property were reported, according to the Air Combat Command investigation report, which was released last week. The Reaper had a value of about $14.6 million.
Investigators determined pilot error “based on channelized attention” and “poor airmanship” were to blame.
The report said the unmanned aircraft system, assigned to the 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., came down at an undisclosed location in Europe.
The pilot and sensor operator tried to land the drone when its control system network began malfunctioning shortly after takeoff during a training mission, according to the report.
The pilot singularly focused on a “stuck (engine) torque” after an electrical anomaly caused the engine indicators to freeze on the pilot’s display, the report stated. As a result, he misidentified the proper emergency procedure and he and the sensor operator failed to run through an emergency engine failure checklist, the report said.
When the Reaper arrived overhead at the designated airfield, the pilot and operator in effect shut down the engine to try and safely glide the aircraft into a landing, the report said.
But because of the malfunction, the cockpit display suggested the engine still was operating, Air Combat Command said in a statement issued with the investigation findings.
Based on the erroneous belief that the engine was running, the team tried to abort the landing and go around for another attempt.
Soon afterward, the pilot said he couldn’t control the drone. He stalled it eight times before the Reaper ran out of energy, according to the report.
The Air Force has flown drone missions from Romania since 2021, when the service moved 90 airmen and an unspecified number of MQ-9 Reapers to Campia Turzii.
The Reapers help with surveillance and reconnaissance in the Black Sea region, where the U.S. regularly has accused Russia of dangerous intercepts of aircraft.
