The Crashed UAV: No Chance for Restoration
Yossi Koffman and Arie Egozi
Israel Defense
January 30, 2012
Hours after it crashed, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) reported that the Eitan UAV suffered such severe damage that it could not be restored.
Israel’s Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Ido Nechushtan, made reference to the aircraft crash during a speech at the Ilan Ramon space convention of the Fischer Institute held at the Israel Air Force House. Maj. Gen. Nechushtan said the crash occurred due to one of the aircraft’s wings being detached during a test flight.
The aircraft, whose size is identical to a Boeing-737 airliner, crashed in Israel’s central region. The precise circumstances of the crash are still unknown. The aircraft is the large Heron TP class UAV manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The UAV crashed during a joint IAI and IAF test flight. It apparently deviated from the flight boundaries, and then crashed.
This is the first time that such a UAV crashed during a flight. It is one of the most advanced UAVs in the air force’s possession, and it is currently being absorbed in the corps. The IDF responded that there were no casualties in the incident after it crashed in a field.
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