Report: Pilot error caused Predator crash

By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 3, 2009 13:45:22 EDT

The crash of an armed MQ-1 Predator shortly after takeoff from Kandahar
Airfield in southern Afghanistan on Nov. 2 was caused, in part, by pilot
error, an Air Combat Command accident investigation board concluded in a
report released Thursday.

The remote-controlled Predator had been flying about five minutes when pilot
Maj. Richard Wageman realized he had missed a turn and the plane was about
to enter a no-fly zone. Wageman "commanded an aggressive left turn" by
rolling the plane 45 degrees without using the rudder, the report said.
Instead of turning, the plane rolled over and started spinning out of
control, dragged down by the weight of the 250-pound missile under its left
wing, which helped point the plane's nose downward, and buffeted by winds
gusting up to 25 mph.

The investigation noted that the Predator's automatic pilot should have
stopped the roll at 40 degrees.

Wageman realized the Predator was in trouble and tried to roll the plane to
the right, but he couldn't regain control of the plane.

The Predator crashed within the airfield boundaries. No one was injured but
the lost plane was valued at $4.7 million.

The report noted that Wageman might have gone into the no-rudder turn
because of his experience flying F-16 fighters. The F-16 doesn't use the
rudder for turns while the Predator does. Wageman qualified to the fly the
Predator about eight months before the accident. Prior to the accident, he
had flown more than 60 Predator takeoffs from Kandahar without mishaps.
It was sensor operator Senior Airman Emily Friemark's first Predator flight
since arriving at Kandahar. Friemark, who had 16 months of experience flying
the UAVs, was not faulted in the report.