Hummingbird UAV Down Near Victorville, CA | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.06.25

AirborneNextGen-
10.07.25

Airborne-Unlimited-10.08.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-10.09.25

AirborneUnlimited-10.10.25

Tue, Dec 11, 2007

Hummingbird UAV Down Near Victorville, CA

Details On Loss Of Boeing A160 Helo Sketchy

A small Boeing unmanned helicopter crashed Monday afternoon during a test flight at the planemaker's Advanced Systems test facility in Victorville, CA, burning about 1,600 square feet of ground but causing no injuries.

The A160 Hummingbird impacted terrain in the desert at 1408 local time Monday. Staffers at the control tower at Southern California Logistics Airport reported the accident to the FAA.

"Boeing was flying an unmanned helicopter ... and it crashed 2.7 miles north of the Victorville airport," said FAA Western Region Spokesman Ian Gregor. Victorville spokeswoman Yvonne Hester confirmed it was an A160.

Details of the accident, including anything pointing to a probable cause, remain unreported.

Initially developed by Frontier Systems, Inc. -- subsequently bought out by Boeing -- under a DARPA contract, the A160 is an unmanned helicopter designed to fly 2,500 nautical miles with endurance in excess of 24 hours. The autonomously-flown helicopter is 35 feet long with a 36-foot rotor diameter and will fly at an estimated top speed of 140 knots, and at ceilings of up to 30,000 feet.

Boeing added a larger, six-cylinder Subaru engine to the aircraft, allowing the Hummingbird to carry over 1,000 lbs payload. As ANN reported, the company's Phantom Works division successfully completed a 12-hour test flight of the Hummingbird on October 12, the longest reported flight to date.

When it enters operational service, the A160 will provide reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, communication relay and precision re-supply.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.faa.gov

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.13.25): Homing [ICAO]

Homing [ICAO] The procedure of using the direction-finding equipment of one radio station with the emission of another radio station, where at least one of the stations is mobile, >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.13.25)

Aero Linx: European Regions Airline Association (ERA) The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) represents a diverse membership of over 50 airlines and more than 150 associate>[...]

ANN FAQ: Q&A 101

A Few Questions AND Answers To Help You Get MORE Out of ANN! 1) I forgot my password. How do I find it? 1) Easy... click here and give us your e-mail address--we'll send it to you >[...]

NTSB Prelim: CubCrafters Carbon Cub

While On Short Final, About 300 Ft, The Pilot Performed A Forced Landing Near Trees On September 7, 2025, about 0932 eastern daylight time, a CubCrafters Carbon Cub EX airplane, N4>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.14.25): Severe Icing

Severe Icing The rate of ice accumulation is such that ice protection systems fail to remove the accumulation of ice and ice accumulates in locations not normally prone to icing, s>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC