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A government uav lost the command link to its flight crew. Remote guidance was disabled and the vehicle was released to autonomous control for the balance of its flight.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1001655 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201203 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Aeroplane Flight Control |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 34.3 Flight Crew Total 2000 Flight Crew Type 180 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
My uav was conducting assigned missions at FL200 in accordance with a certificate of authorization issued by the FAA. At a point in the mission the uav descended to FL190 without an ATC clearance. At the time of this violation; we lost a control link (return link lost) with the aircraft. As we were then unable to verify the aircraft's position or obtain critical flight information; the command link with the vehicle was disabled releasing it on its emergency mission profile in accordance with the approved emergency checklist. The vehicle than began squawking 7600 and entered autonomous flight preceding direct to the assigned emergency mission loiter point and descended to a preprogrammed altitude of FL190.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A government UAV lost the command link to its flight crew. Remote guidance was disabled and the vehicle was released to autonomous control for the balance of its flight.
Narrative: My UAV was conducting assigned missions at FL200 in accordance with a Certificate of Authorization issued by the FAA. At a point in the mission the UAV descended to FL190 without an ATC clearance. At the time of this violation; we lost a control link (Return Link Lost) with the aircraft. As we were then unable to verify the aircraft's position or obtain critical flight information; the command link with the vehicle was disabled releasing it on its Emergency Mission profile in accordance with the approved emergency checklist. The vehicle than began squawking 7600 and entered autonomous flight preceding direct to the assigned emergency mission loiter point and descended to a preprogrammed altitude of FL190.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.