Accident General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper 05-0102 ,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 144837
 
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Date:Thursday 5 April 2012
Time:13:30 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic Q9 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper
Owner/operator:US Air Force - 645th ASG
Registration: 05-0102
MSN: PB-0..
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Seychelles Int Airport, Mahé -   Seychelles
Phase: Initial climb
Nature:Military
Departure airport:SEZ/FSIA
Destination airport:SEZ/FSIA
Investigating agency: USAF AIB
Confidence Rating: Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities
Narrative:
A U.S. Air Force General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) turned back shortly after takeoff from Seychelles International Airport - SEZ/FSIA, Mahé Island, touched down on the runway and bounced a few times before ending up in the sea at the extreme southern end of the runway.
The Air Force Materiel Command investigation board found that the contractor pilot closed the fuel shut off valve whilst reacting to a warning indication having failed to adjust the flaps setting after raising the landing gear immediately after take-off. Whilst then attempting to return to land both operators failed to lower the landing gear resulting in the destruction of the US$ 8.9 million aircraft when it impacted within the first third of the runway.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: USAF AIB
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/04/05/seychelles-drone-idINDEE83401C20120405
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/April%202012/April%2005%202012/ReaperCrashesinSeychelles.aspx
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/2005.html
https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/AircraftAccidentReports/Documents/2012/040412_MQ-9A_Seychelles.pdf

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
05-Apr-2012 11:41 harro Added
05-Apr-2012 22:54 RobertMB Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Apr-2012 23:24 RobertMB Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Narrative]
15-Mar-2017 14:28 JF Updated [Registration, Source]
06-Mar-2020 09:09 StokieSteve Updated [Operator, Phase, Source, Narrative]
06-Mar-2020 09:09 harro Updated [Source, Accident report, ]
03-Jun-2022 06:40 Ron Averes Updated [Location]

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