NTSB’s First UAV Accident

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Oct. 16 ruled that operator error caused the loss of a Predator B unmanned aerial system last year in Arizona. The Safety Board issued a total of 22 safety recommendations to address what NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said were "a wide range of safety issues involving the civilian use of unmanned aircraft." On April 25, a turboprop- powered Predator B UAS on a surveillance mission for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) crashed in a sparsely populated residential area near Nogales, Arizona. No one on the ground was injured, but the remotely piloted 66-foot wingspan aircraft was substantially damaged. The Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to use checklist procedures when switching operational control from a console that had become inoperable due to a "lockup" condition, which resulted in the fuel valve inadvertently being shut off and the subsequent total loss of engine power. "This investigation has raised questions about the different standards for manned and unmanned aircraft and the safety implications of this discrepancy," said Rosenker. Expressing concerns about how manned and unmanned aircraft will share the same airspace, Chairman Rosenker said, "The fact that we approved 22 safety recommendations based on our investigation of a single accident is an indication of the scope of the safety issues these unmanned aircraft are bringing into the National Airspace System." After adopting the safety recommendations, the Board voted to convene a public forum on the safety of UAS operations and the methodologies to use when investigating UAS accident and incidents. The dates and agenda for the forum will be announced once details are finalized.