{"id":70167,"date":"2018-05-15T16:36:26","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T16:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/15\/number-of-air-force-drone-related-mishaps-has-remained-steady-since-2011\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:06:32","slug":"number-of-air-force-drone-related-mishaps-has-remained-steady-since-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/05\/15\/number-of-air-force-drone-related-mishaps-has-remained-steady-since-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of Air Force drone-related mishaps has remained steady since 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force sustained 271 Class A, B and C aviation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/aaaa\/2018\/04\/25\/these-two-drones-are-leaders-in-accident-rates-how-is-the-us-army-responding\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover931062\">mishaps involving unmanned aerial vehicles<\/a> from fiscal 2011 to 2017, according to data obtained by Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The number of mishaps has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/aviation-in-crisis\/2018\/05\/08\/former-us-air-force-chief-details-decision-to-cut-maintenance-budgets-in-2013\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover626536\">mostly stable during that time<\/a>, with an average of about 39 incidents per year. The service documented 43 mishaps involving drones in FY11, with the latest data showing 38 mishaps in FY17. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, there is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/05\/08\/after-string-of-fatal-crashes-air-force-orders-safety-review\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">no linear trend<\/a> suggesting that the number of UAS mishaps is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/aviation-in-crisis\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\">getting better or worse<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only 30 accidents were recorded in 2013, while 2015 was an exceptionally bad year, with 49 mishaps. That lack of trend line was the same among all classes of accidents, from the most serious Class A mishaps that incur $2 million or more in damages, the Class Bs that range from $500,000 up to $2 million, or Class C events that are more than $50,000 in value but less than $500,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/05\/11\/air-force-deployed-mysterious-experimental-drone-to-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/silver-Fox.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Air Force deployed mysterious drone to Afghanistan to catch terrorists planting roadside bombs<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">You may not have heard of Silver Fang, but aviation mishap data obtained by Military Times shows the drone has spent a lot of time in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What does seem to be trending downward, however, is the rate of Class A and B mishaps among the service\u2019s three most-used drones \u2014 Northrop Grumman\u2019s RQ-4 Global Hawk, the now-retired MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper, both made by General Atomics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"634\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Reaper-0515_web.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-105591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Reaper-0515_web.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Reaper-0515_web.jpg.jpg?resize=300,159 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Reaper-0515_web.jpg.jpg?resize=768,406 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Reaper-0515_web.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,541 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An MQ-9 Reaper takes of for a mission in Afghanistan Sept. 31. The Reaper has completed 12 missions since its inaugural flight there Sept. 25. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All three aircraft documented high mishap rates when they were introduced, data from the Air Force Safety Center shows. However, the mishap rate sharply decreased as operators got more practice using the aircraft and as flight hours increased, and has now leveled out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In FY17, the MQ-9 Reaper experienced its lowest rate of Class A Mishaps, charting only four such accidents even though it flew a record 292,000 hours that year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Global Hawk, the Air Force\u2019s other major still-active UAS, has had only one Class A mishap and one Class B mishap since FY12. The mishaps occurred in FY2017 and FY2016, respectively, however, the numbers of Global Hawk flight hours have almost tripled since FY12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many of the Predator and Reaper mishaps can be attributed to one of several key factors: a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/05\/07\/air-force-investigation-finds-reaper-crashed-after-signal-lost\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">lost communications link<\/a>, generator problems or a hard landing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, those common descriptors don\u2019t tell the whole story, said Col. William Culver, chief of the aviation safety division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are many components that can fail in an RPA which would inevitably produce the \u201clost link\u201d code that will end up in the one-liner,\u201d he said in an interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn a lot of those mishaps &#8230; there\u2019s a high probability \u2018lost link\u2019 was not the causal reason for the mishap. It\u2019s a result of something else occurring on the RPA that led to the lost link, but because it went lost link, it\u2019s identified in the one-liner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u201chard landing\u201d and \u201clost link\u201d problems have been looked into by multiple Safety Investigation Boards, with their recommendations flowing to Air Combat Command, which decides whether to put them into practice. Culver said the assessments have \u201cpaid off\u201d as there are fewer lost links and hard landings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2015\/08\/19\/generator-failure-led-to-drone-crash-investigation-finds\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Generator failures<\/a> were an especially big problem for the MQ-9 from about 2013 to 2016, when there were at least seven incidents of the equipment failing in flight, leading to a crash where the aircraft was completely destroyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2015\/07\/30\/air-force-depleted-batteries-failed-generator-caused-mq-9-reaper-crash\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635738588902521606-photo-reaperjpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Air Force: Depleted batteries, failed generator caused MQ-9 Reaper crash<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">An Air Force investigation into MQ-9 Reaper crash in the CENTCOM details what doomed the armed drone.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force responded by upgrading its MQ-9 inventory with a direct drive, brushless alternator that could temporarily supply power to the UAS if the generator went down. It also began buying MQ-9 Block 5 drones, which come equipped with a new generator and backup generator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The generator problem seems to have completely subsided as of FY2017, as none of the one-line descriptions of MQ-9 mishaps mention issues with the system. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number of drone accidents over the past five to six years has remained steady, but the rate of crashes seems to be decreasing, data on aviation mishaps shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":105590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,24,89,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3305],"class_list":["post-70167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"EBQ2TROV3FEOJNSDYE4EN4NK6Y","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/aviation-in-crisis\/2018\/05\/15\/number-of-air-force-drone-related-mishaps-has-remained-steady-since-2011\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Number of Air Force drone-related mishaps has remained steady since 2011 - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The number of drone accidents over the past five to six years has remained steady, but the rate of crashes seems to be decreasing, data on aviation mishaps shows.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Number of Air Force drone-related mishaps has remained steady since 2011\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The number of drone accidents over the past five to six years has remained steady, but the rate of crashes seems to be 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