An MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed late last year into the Mediterranean Sea because it lost a propeller, ultimately destroying the entire unmanned aircraft, according to a newly released incident report.
The new details, released late last month by Air Combat Command, revealed some of the circumstances that caused the multimillion-dollar aircraft to be destroyed but still left unanswered questions as the drone was unrecoverable in the sea.
"The mishap resulted in a complete loss of the aircraft, valued at $13.1 million; however, no fatalities, injuries or reported damage to civilian property occurred," a news release from Air Combat Command said.
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The new accident report comes as unmanned aircraft mishaps have seen an overall increase since hitting a low point in 2018, according to Air Force Safety Center data.
On Dec. 16, 2024, the MQ-9A took off within the European Command's area of responsibility "before it experienced a sudden loss of thrust, a deterioration of air speed, and a gradual descent."
The drone was from the 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, and was being operated by service members from the 20th Attack Squadron out of Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.
Accident Investigation Board President Col. Rick Schuessler described the mishap as being due to "a failure within the Splined Coupling Assembly" that "led to a sudden and permanent mechanical decoupling of the propeller from the engine, resulting in an unrecoverable loss of thrust," the news release added.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., the manufacturer of the MQ-9, said the specific part failure was most likely the Spiral Retaining Ring, according to the report, but Schuessler wrote that "the definitive cause could not be discerned by a preponderance of the evidence because the wreckage was unrecoverable."
The Spiral Retaining Ring has a "history of excessive wear and failure," the report detailed, and the aircraft was about halfway through its 3,000 flight hour threshold, after which the part would have been replaced.
Air Force Safety Center data shows the service has seen 87 unmanned Class A mishaps, the term used for its deadliest and most expensive crashes, in the last decade.
Since 2018, which saw three Class A unmanned aircraft mishaps meaning the service’s deadliest and most costly incidents, later years have shown an increased number of accidents, according to the data.
From 2019 through 2021, there were six such crashes each year. In 2022, the service reported four and then nine in 2023. In 2024, there were seven unmanned crashes reported.
So far in 2025, there have been three unmanned Class A mishaps.
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