Pax River Cleans Up Drone Crash Site
RQ-4A Global Hawk Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator
The Navy announced that it has concluded the clean-up of the June 11 Global Hawk drone crash in Dorchester County, Maryland.
“Fortunately, the environmental impact has been minimal,” said Capt. H.E. “Ted” Mills, commander at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, in a prepared statement. “The U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency and Maryland Department of the Environment were consulted and are satisfied with the effort.”
The Navy says no one was injured and no property was damaged at the crash site and stated that the cause of the mishap is still under investigation.
The drone was a Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk being used by the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program for testing and training for the upcoming Triton drone. The $176 million vehicle was the Air Force version of the aircraft, used to train pilots and develop tactics and doctrine for the program.
A Navy report stated that the aircraft crashed into a swampy section of the Nanticoke River near Bloodworth Island in Dorchester County. The Navy confirmed the crash after losing contact with the vehicle.
