ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 269155
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| Date: | Thursday 24 September 2020 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper |
| Owner/operator: | USAF |
| Registration: | 10-4108 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Ali Al Salem Air Base -
 Kuwait
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Ali Al Salem Air Base |
| Ali Al Salem Air Base | |
| Investigating agency: | USAF AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 24 September 2020, at approximately 04:33 UTC, the MQ-9A (10-4108) departed the runway surface during landing rollout at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait. The aircraft was government-owned, contractor-operated and assigned to the 432d Wing with contractors for Remotely Piloted Solutions (RPS) flying it at the time of the mishap. The crew consisted of the pilot,sensor operator and safety observer.
Another unit’s ground data terminal (GDT) and ground control station (GCS) and MQ-9 were in use during the landing of 10-4108 and were transmitting on the same frequency as the 10-4108’s uplink. The interfering GDT was transmitting on the wide beam during the landing then subsequently changed to the narrow beam. The MQ-9A entered the interfering GDT’s beam and lost uplink with its GDT. The nose wheel of 10-4108 maintained the last received command (slight left), and the aircraft veered left. The aircraft then departed the side of the runway. It was destroyed.
The Abbreviated Accident Board President found by a preponderance of the evidence, the causes of the mishap, both of which were necessary, are:
(a) the other unit's improperly using the MOSPORT uplink frequency to launch and land aircraft after the frequency allocation plan had been adjusted and distributed; and
(b) during landing rollout, the mishap aircraft entered the beamwidth for the OU GDT, causing the mishap aircraft to receive two different uplink signals on the same frequency, preventing it from
receiving data from its own GDT and resulting in the loss of uplink.
Sources:
USAF AIB
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2021 18:16 | harro | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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