Aircraft Lost Over Dutch Harbor

A film crew making a video promoting Dutch Harbor, Alaska lost a drone recently during the filming when it was attacked by an eagle over the water.

Ars Technica reports that local drone operator Emmett Fitch was assisting the crew from Nevada with the shoot when his pilot suddenly lost contact with his aircraft, which was about a mile from the operator. He tried in vain to regain control of the drone and bring it back, to no avail.

In reviewing the short video which had been downloaded to his phone, Fitch said that the eagle's talons could clearly be seen wrapping around the aircraft. He speculates that the bird pulled one of the power cords, because "it killed the drone immediately."

Some people went looking for the drone, but it was nowhere to be found.

According to the Dutch Harbor Fisherman newspaper, NOAA has flown drones over the islands of Attu and Agattu with no problems, but that aircraft is a large hexacopter, which an eagle is unlikely to mistake for prey, which is what it is assumed happened to the smaller aircraft.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report