UAV Crash in Arizona (Long)

Details of the Predator UAV crash in Arizona have just been released.
Currently two of these pilotless 66-foot wing-span beasts are flying
along the Arizona border as part of border patrols and a third will be
added next year. Some of us local pilots are underwhelmed.

The crash resulted from loss of control after the ground computer-
control console locked up. Reportedly, two identical consoles are
used, one for the aircraft controls and one for the surveillance
equipment. The control for the throttle on one console is identical to
the control for the camera iris on the other. After the main console
locked up, the pilot switched control from one console to the other
without checking that the controls were matched. Since the iris was
closed, the throttle shut down and the engine quit.

The Predator then descended below the minimum altitude for the C-band
communications link, which was lost. The aircraft then turned north
into Arizona and waited for further commands. Backup commands can
also be sent by Iridium satellite. Unfortunately, on loss of engine
power, the Predator begins shutting down electrical systems to
conserve power. And yes indeed, the Iridium communications is one of
the first to be shut down!

The out-of-control and powerless Predator then glided into an area of
upscale ranch homes near Tubac, about 12 miles north of the Arizona/
Mexico border, where it crashed in the backyard of a large house,
missing it and a neighbor by just a few hundred feet.(The FAA report
claims it crashed in sparsely populated terrain, but failed to mention
that it just missed a group of houses). During its descent, ATC
closed off large chunks of airspace below 15,000 feet as they didn't
know where the lost aircraft was or its heading. From primary radar
returns, at one point it was considered possible that it would affect
Tucson International airspace.

The Predator controls appear to violate a lot of good design
principles - in particular, that the intelligence should be in the
machine, not the operator. I can see how a tired operator at 3:00 AM
can easily hit the wrong button when the design makes it so easy.
Losses of these in active war zones from equipment malfunctions and
pilot errors are unsurprisingly quite a lot higher.

It may also come as no surprise that these aircraft have no
airworthiness certificate and are being flown under a special waiver
"in the national interest".

Why is this posted on a glider forum?

Arizona has a lot of military airspace and they are trying to grab
more. To operate the Predators and similar flying disasters, more
airspace is being commandeered, a big chunk of it in some of our best
soaring country. The Predator crashed about five miles from one of
most used southern-Arizona turnpoints.

In my view, too much money is being spent on technical solutions to a
political problem and I am particularly concerned about the further
grabbing of airspace for this ineffective and horrendously expensive
form of border patrol.

Check the NTSB report he
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?...MA121& akey=1

Mike