LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNS) – Air Force officials here said an MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft flying a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom lost contact with its ground control station and crashed in a forward operating area April 20, according to the Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board report released Nov. 24.

The Predator was an asset of the 432d Air Expeditionary Wing from Creech Air Force Base, Nev., and was flown by members of the 111th Reconnaissance Squadron of the Texas Air National Guard from Ellington Field, Texas.

The aircraft was carrying one Hellfire missile and did not return to its forward operating base after contact was lost. The wreckage was recovered the next day, downwind of the Predator’s last reported position. The loss of aircraft and its components is valued at about $4.6 million.

According to the report, the aircraft lost its return link, a data transmission capability from the aircraft to the ground control station. Attempts to re-establish the return link were unsuccessful.

The Accident Investigation Board president determined the cause of this mishap was a catastrophic electrical system failure most likely caused by a short circuit along the 28 volt power lines. Because of the damaged state of the wreckage, the board president was unable to identify more specifically where the failure occurred.

 Source and picture: USAF