The Philippine Air Force (PAF) reported that its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Hermes 900 crashed following a functional check flight (FCF) on Saturday morning, May 28.
There were no civilian casualties and damage to properties reported from the incident.
In a statement, the PAF said the drone took off at around 9:30 a.m. for the FCF at the Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City, and proceeded five nautical miles east of Lumbia “and ascended to 10,000 [feet].”
“After finding the FCF procedure to be satisfactory, the pilots declared the termination of test and started to descend 5,000 ft. 1.5 miles east of Lumbia Airport,” it states.
“At around 11:46 a.m, communications with the UAV [were] cut. All emergency procedures were performed and Field Service Representatives were called for troubleshooting,” it added.
Authorities said the asset “crash landed in a vegetated area where it was confirmed to have lost contact.”
An investigation was already set to identify the cause of the crash. AG – gb
