Unmanned copter crashes, starts fire

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Unmanned copter crashes, starts fire

Boeing is testing A160 Hummingbird helicopter at SCLA for Defense Department

December 10, 2007 - 3:02PM

VICTORVILLE — An unmanned helicopter known as the A160 Hummingbird crashed north of Southern California Logistics Airport Monday afternoon, where Frontier Systems Inc. and Boeing have been testing the aircraft since 2002.

This is the first time the Hummingbird, a 35-foot-long helicopter with a 36-foot rotor, has crashed, said Boeing Advanced Systems spokesman Robert Villanueva.

No one was injured, and Boeing employees at Southern California Logistics Airport, or SCLA, are investigating the cause of the crash.

“We apparently lost one of our test vehicles early this afternoon,” Villanueva said. “The good news is, it’s an unmanned vehicle” so there were no deaths.

Boeing is developing the A160 “Unmanned Air System” under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, the central research and design organization of the U.S. Department of Defense, Villanueva said. The A160 was not carrying weapons when it crashed.

Victorville firefighters stationed at SCLA responded to the crash at Colusa Road and Helendale Road after it was reported at 2:08 p.m. Monday, said Battalion Chief Warren Peterson of the Victorville Fire Department.

A San Bernardino County Fire Department engine from Adelanto was also called in to assist.

The fire had mostly burned out by the time firefighters arrived, and it covered an area about 30 feet in diameter of desert brush. One injury in the crash was a Joshua tree that seemed to have caught on fire after the Hummingbird hit it.

Pieces of the Hummingbird were scattered widely around the crash site, and much of the craft appeared to have been consumed by the fire.

The A160 is built in Irvine and its missions will include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance attack, according to background material supplied by Boeing.

It can fly at speeds of up to 140 knots at up to 30,000 feet, about 10,000 feet higher than conventional helicopters currently fly, according to Boeing.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007