TUAV CU161005
20 January 2004
Camp Julien, Afghanistan
The SPERWER Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) tail number CU161005 was being flown as a training mission to practice autopilot recoveries. This was the second flight for the vehicle's crew after a 61 day layoff. The crew were practicing vehicle recovery procedures that were initiated from counter clockwise circuits. As part of the recovery training procedure, altitude for the final approach track was being incrementally lowered on successive circuits.
Three complete circuits were flown to the overshoot without incident. On the fourth circuit, the UAV impacted the terrain while in a descending final turn to the inbound approach track.
The TUAV suffered “A” category damage.
It has been determined that the flight crew flew CU161005 into terrain because their attention was channelized on the approach and set up for landing. Their concentration on the approach resulted in their missing the visual and auditory warnings that occurred prior to the controlled flight into terrain. The TUAV flight crews were not trained sufficiently to operate in three-dimensional airspace. They did not experience operating the TUAV in mountainous terrain prior to arrival in theatre.
Fifteen recommendations were made as a result of this occurrence of which ten are already being implemented. Key recommendations include the drafting of documentation for training and currency standards to ensure training is complete and validated. This includes the creation of qualifications standards, training plans and proficiency requirements. Furthermore, a UAV Standards Evaluation Team (UAVSET) will be created to ensure the standards function is provided for all CF UAV operations.
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