According to a report in the Military Times, a Gannett Company, a K-MAX unmanned helicopter crashed June 5th in Afghanistan while resupplying Marines.
The crash occurred at a landing zone just northeast of Camp Leatherneck while the UAV was in the final stages of delivering cargo. The aircraft was in autonomous mode without the input of a UAS pilot when it went down, ruling out pilot error.
Though the cause of the mishap has not yet been determined, the crash of a full-size unmanned helicopter brings into question the safety of unmanned aircraft operating in fully autonomous mode without the benefit of a human pilot in the loop to intervene in the event of a failure. Should such a mishap occur in the civil environment, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Click the link below to read the story in Military Times.
K-MAX Unmanned Helicopter Crashes In Afghanistan
Rich Hanson
AMA Government and Regulatory Affairs