Board: Late warning at fault in Predator crash

Board: Late warning at fault in Predator crash
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 23, 2007 12:42:08 EST

Inadequate emergency procedures and warnings led to the July 31 crash of an MQ-1 Predator while on a mission over central Iraq, an Air Force accident investigation board concluded.

The board noted that the remote-control plane’s engine had been losing power for close to two minutes before a warning appeared on the aircrew’s control consoles. And when the pilot and instructor pilot went through checklists to solve the engine problems, there were no instructions leading them to deal with the primary problem — a malfunctioning sensor that measures air pressure inside the engine’s air intake manifold.

The sensor’s bad readings led the Predator’s onboard computer to reduce flow of fuel into the four-cylinder engine, reducing the power to idle, not enough power to keep the Predator airborne. The engine crisis did not trigger any audio or visual alarms on the aircrew’s control console at March Air Force Base, Calif.

The pilot, Col. Randall Ball, instructor pilot, Lt. Col. Thomas Pritchard, and sensor operator, Tech. Sgt. Ryan Williams, all of the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Reconnaissance Wing, didn’t get an engine warning alert until two minutes after the problems started.

While the engine problem might have been solved by switching to a backup pressure sensor, the engine failure emergency checklist did not include that option.

The $3.8 million Predator continued to lose altitude with no chance of landing at a secure location. Commanders decided to deliberately crash the plane about 30 miles of west of Balad Air Base. Soon after, a fighter bombed the crash scene so that classified or valuable gear could not be looted from the wreckage.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/11/airforce_Predator_Crash_071123/

Wouldn't that be necessary data?