Accident Reportedly Occurred In Afghanistan

The German tabloid Bild has released what it says is an exclusive video of an IAI Heron UAV impacting the fuselage of a C160 transport plane on a runway in Afghanistan.

The video, taken from the UAVs onboard camera, indicates the accident happens while both aircraft are on the ground, though it is believed that the drone should not have been moving on the tarmac when it hit the plane.

The online news aggregator The Blaze picked up a report from the online tech magazine Gizmodo, which indicates that, according to Bild, the 2010 accident was classified as "secret" when it took place. Germany at the time operated three leased Heron UAVs, and the aircraft shown in a separate still photo shows a badly-damaged Heron that has apparently impacted the right main landing gear of the airplane.

A member of the German military said in a now-declassified report that, had the accident occurred when more aircraft were operating at the airport, "it could have been a disaster."

The report says that the accident was pilot error on the part of the drone operator. The pilot reportedly started the drone's engine accidentally, and did not know how to stop the aircraft.

(Image from YouTube video.)

FMI: http://www.bmvg.de