Because it's a plane......

Actually they use them to monitor our border areas, and since this one was a maritime drone, it's used to monitor shipping activity and look for coastal infiltrations by whoever.

Also, because its "under development"....read the article next time.

The current administration already announced they would be using drones over US soil weeks ago. Just imagine if Bush was president when that was announced and they started crashing around us.

In before double standard remarks to defend big brother drones over US soil as part of the patriot act that was so widely hated 3 years ago.

They are already using them on US soil. Obviously you missed last weeks article about how the EPA has been using them to find Corporate Farm polluters. So it is better to spend a crapload of money on airplanes than it is too hire people to walk in and look themselves? Now who do you think the government supports, defense contractors or American citizens?

It was flying in the area because Pax River is used as a test sight for these aircraft. These UAVs are still under development, not operational, so they fly them from Pax River out to the test range off the coast. There is nothing unusual at all about test aircraft flying in the area.

Allen, Drone surveillance in a public airspace is not 'big brother' anymore than cops standing on a hill with binoculars. The reason people hate the Patriot Act is because of the wiretap provisions and covert electronic surveillance provisions. The big difference is that one talking one a phone or using e-mail has an expectation of privacy, unlike someone walking in plain sight in a public area. Nice try to oversimplify the issue though.

Everyone get your tin-foil hats on. :D

JS in SD

It was flying in the area because Pax River is used as a test sight for these aircraft. These UAVs are still under development, not operational, so they fly them from Pax River out to the test range off the coast. There is nothing unusual at all about test aircraft flying in the area.

ah yes Obiwan.... move along, nothing to see here.....

allen

Just imagine if Bush was president when that was announced and they started crashing around us.

Yea, bush wouldn't have done that. Oh wait; he used spy satellites over the US instead.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118714764716998275.html

Because 86 senators decided that we needed 30,000 drones over America to spy on Americans which is against our 4th amendment constitutional right. This is just the start, our government does not trust the American people because, they are not trustworthy governing us. Maybe you should all look into further news and not the mainstream news stations which are all government ran. I don't need a tin foil hat just Look between the lines for news and you will see what is happening with America. Let the hate mail begin !!! RON PAUL 2012

just drone on to others...has you would have them...drone onto you...

Please, for the love of God, tell me there were no Maryland blue crabs killed?!!

You do realize Romney already won the nomintaion right?

@hamsolo, Nitt Witt Mitt is not going to win. What part of Looser do you fail to unserstand and what's this fruitcake got to do with a Drone? Oh yeh, he's Wireless Guided also.

I was responding to the dudes comment above, it says Ron Paul 2012. @!$%#head

no maryland blue crab were killed...but there is a missing possum...

This is a perfect example of WHY I DONT WANT DRONES FLYING IN MY COUNTRY!

They lose signal and crash... and its just like a video game for the guy flying it... its not like he is actually at war anymore... he is just playing call of duty...

Take your garbage and get out of the USSR .... errr... I mean USA

Soon spying over a town near you...

what_the, I new it wouldn't take long for something like this to happen. I figured they were wasting their time spying on me

@Big Trouble

Allen, Drone surveillance in a public airspace is not 'big brother' anymore than cops standing on a hill with binoculars

Of course it is and we should be equally pissed off by both.

... has an expectation of privacy, unlike someone walking in plain sight in a public area

So my backyard or my acreage is a "public area"? Really? News to me.

Most likely they were on a itty bitty titty spy mission over DC trying to get some pics of lawmakers wifes and daughters who think their safe skinny dippin behind high fences .

Then some perv can blackmail our lawmakers for a couple billion more on one of the navys pet projects

@6dogs The more you back your buddy Mr O the more people switch and back away from him, so keep up the good work. Mr O is owned by both sides now that Hollywood bought him for the Liberals and corporate America bought him for the corporations, to bad the American people don't have a share in him. there is only one direction for him to go that's out, the man lies so much its becoming hideous.

I realize drones do a good job in protecting our country, but they give me the creeps and how long before they do the opposite.

Oh come on Lusitania what are you afraid of?? Do you have something to hide?? If not the drone will never bother you!

Why are people so afraid of drones and easedropping. I personally welcome it. The drones are perfect for monitoring our borders. And if you have nothing to hide why worry about who or what is out there. It seems there are a lot of people worrying about spying. Remember people there are a lot of other people out there wanting us and America GONE. If the drones & easedropping can do the job, I'm all for it. And haven't we caught some bad ones easedropping. Go drones!!!!

Okay, how many of you "commenting" on this actually live in the sate of MD? How many of you know where Pax River Naval Station is?

JS is RIGHT!!!! Pax is and has been a testing ground for new toys. How do I know that? Well you see, I actually live in the STATE and I know what the area around the Eastern shore is like!!!!

Dbuck, this has nothing to do with PRESIDENT Obama, and everything to do with an experimental craft that still needs the bugs worked out of it. That is why they were doing a ....... say it with me TEST FLIGHT!!!!! Next time read the entire article and not just what you think supports your narrow minded view.

This is for when the Government finally wants to impose martial law, take away your guns, sieze your bank accounts, devalue the dollar and basically destroy America. Think I am kiding? Just wait and see. Google FEMA camps here in the U.S. It's for those who are going to rebell against our Goverment. You will be taken off to prison without any rights. These drones will find all those who plan on overtaking the Government. Far fetched? Better start reading up. Then vote every incumbant out of office to try and delay this coming to an end.

That would mean they have to read facts..

Hey Joan M #s, Its other countries, especially one's that hate us..

Do you really think we have the power to detect a stealth drone. "keep dreaming".

BS, we don't have a border in Maryland, its part of the new use drones to moniter Americans done by this administration, they are even talking about giving them to local law enforcment. This bunch has got to go. it would be intelligent to use these on the border but that they won't do, need the votes coming across I guess.

TiredVoter-951582

No one is buying that line of crap. CIA head Penetta was on CBS last night acknowledging these are being used here for "law enforcement". Really? Law enforcement??? I wondered why he would admit that , must be a hurry up to cover because they knew it had gone down.

Joan M-3258381

We might buy that if they patrolling the border, they are not! And they are working for an Administration that writes itself the power to declare martial law and control everything including the food. So, poo poo if your will but this gets more dangerous by the day.

The drones have been sighted flying over Nebraska and Iowa.
The EPA sez they are "monitoring farmers" I say Obama is invading our privacy!
This has gone too far. It's time we put a stop to this in November.

Obviously, the ONLY time Drones fly is when the Queen is swarming.

L8 & shaking

U2 are in trouble. I hear that they are testing a new sensor on that drone. It detects aluminum hates. RUN AND HIDE YOU TWO. THEY ARE AFTER YOU!

ps.

harley

YOU BETTER RUN TOO!

It was a... uh... a training mission. Yea, a training mission. Yea, that's the ticket, a training mission.

Thank god none of the SMIBS got a hold of it....it would have made one sweet tree stand or moonshine still..one of the best placed I ever did a tour, very cool place if you love aviation...accidents at Pax is not a new thing..pickle suits are always pushing the envelope, had 3 major mishaps while i was there, it is part of the gig whether it is maned or unmanned.

if you are wondering what a SMIB is just take a trip to PAX

Thank god none of the SMIBS got a hold of it....it would have made one sweet tree stand or moonshine still..one of the best placed I ever did a tour, very cool place if you love aviation...accidents at Pax is not a new thing..pickle suits are always pushing the envelope, had 3 major mishaps while i was there, it is part of the gig whether it is maned or unmanned.

if you are wondering what a SMIB is just take a trip to PAX

VH

You are getting old. You are starting to stutter. ®¿®

sorry for the repost..figure i would put it in stereo....damn 38 is old? pass the Geritol then

Its called testing. How many people would fly in an airplane that hasn't been tested? Or, buy software that hasn't been tested. Or, a new automobile brake system. Testing is a good thing - not a conspiracy.

Joan M-3258381 - No one is worried about them watching us when we aren't doing anything wrong, it is the possibility of sinister and/or covert powers deciding that being vocal about your opposition to the government or the PTA or the home association or whatever is 'wrong'. And then using info obtained this way to convict you of treason or whatever they will call it.

I personally don't spend a lot of time worrying about such things but I know many posting here do. It will take a lot of movement from point A to point ZZ to get to that point, but the more tools they have in place when that day comes the easier it will be to become a gestapo state overnight. Many, many freedoms will have to be usurped while the public allows it to get that point and I think that is highly unlikely, but it is possible someday.

maybe the iranians were test flying it :P

Mr. Ray -

They said it was on a taining mission. Ya don't supposed they were covering up swamp surveillance?

The bigger it is the more people will notice them. Looking upon this model. its kind of BIG!

hamsolo

Nitt Witt Mitt has not officially become the republican party nominee! He still has to win the Florida republican national debate and until all delegates have weighed in can he be nominated at the National republical nomination format. Don't be in such a hurry to give away your freedom. Ron Paul may not win the nomination but it won't be due to a lack of delegates. At the very least Ron Paul has brought the truth of big government to the forefront and has gotten people to realize what is truly happening within our own government.

For you to sit around on your laurels and call people childish names such as @!$%#head maybe you should look in the mirror and ask yourself what have I done for my country? !!!RONPAUL 2012 @!$%#head

Have a good day :)

vh

pass the Geritol then

I'll be 59 in 10 days. i need all my geritol.

So many of you people are so stupid. This IS a test aircraft that WAS on a routine mission. I WATCHED it take off and got multiple calls about the problems it was having when it began to malfunction. This aircrat DOES test about twice a week and it DOES do missions overseas. It is rather large (look it up) and there is no conspiracy. It is just another tool being developed to support our military overseas kinda like tanks and M16s. It is a devistating loss as it was a 176million dollar piece of equipment. Nothing else to it guys. Just an airplane crash.

To the guy who said Ron Paul was out of it because he's not the repubs guy(Mitt the twit)...ever think Ron Paul will run INDEPENDENT???? It ain't over til it's over.No matter who's elected,Dems or Repubs....it's the same crew running the show,and alot of us know who they are.And speaking of "Big Brother"...aside from unmanned drones watching us,did you see where the Gov. purchsed like 45million rounds of HOLLOW POINT 9mm bullets,weren't they banned from police use? because of the horrible damage they do to the human body? Seems the Gov. is expecting something......I doubt they're for target use.

Just to play a small version of devils advocate, 9mm hollow points should be the preferred round for handguns. From Wikipedia, sorry would rather write my own stuff, but no one would believe me without references. Hollow points and handguns are good for the bystander, high velocity long rifles, not so much.

umm, What was the article ? oh yeah an experimental unmanned aircraft crahed, no explanation just a description and reported it as lost. Where does any candidate come into this conversation does Mr. Paul have a published or reported opinion on the use of unmanned aircraft in U.S airspace? I do not like it, but I am not running.

The Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, prohibited the use in international warfare of bullets that easily expand or flatten in the body.[3] This is often incorrectly believed to be prohibited in the Geneva Conventions, but it significantly predates those conventions, and is in fact a continuance of the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, which banned exploding projectiles of less than 400 grams, as well as weapons designed to aggravate injured soldiers or make their death inevitable. NATO members do not use small arms ammunition that is prohibited by the Hague Convention. Despite the ban on military use, hollow-point bullets are one of the most common types of civilian and police ammunition, due largely to the reduced risk of bystanders being hit by over-penetrating or ricocheted bullets, and the increased speed of incapacitation. In many jurisdictions, even ones such as the United Kingdom, where expanding ammunition is generally prohibited, it is illegal to hunt certain types of game with ammunition that does not expand.[4][5] Some target ranges forbid full metal jacket ammunition, due to its greater tendency to damage metal targets and backstops.[6]

In early 1992 Winchester introduced the "Black Talon", a newly designed hollow-point handgun bullet which used a specially designed, reverse tapered jacket. The jacket was cut at the hollow to intentionally weaken it, and these cuts allowed the jacket to open into six petals upon impact. The thick jacket material kept the tips of the jacket from bending as easily as a normal thickness jacket. The slits that weakened the jacket left triangular shapes in the tip of the jacket, and these triangular sections of jacket would end up pointing out after expansion, leading to the "Talon" name. The bullets were coated with a black colored, paint-like lubricant called "Lubalox," and loaded into nickel-plated brass cases, which made them visually stand out from other ammunition. While actual performance of the Black Talon rounds was not significantly better than any other comparable high performance hollow-point ammunition, the reverse taper jacket did provide reliable expansion under a wide range of conditions, and many police departments adopted the round.[10] Winchester's "Black Talon" product name was eventually used against them. After a high profile shooting at 101 California Street, San Francisco in 1993, media response against Winchester was swift. "This bullet kills you better", says one report; "its six razorlike claws unfold on impact, expanding to nearly three times the bullet's diameter".[11][12] A concern was raised by the American College of Emergency Physicians that the sharp edges of the jacket could penetrate surgical gloves, increasing the risk of blood-borne infections being transmitted to medical personnel treating the gunshot wound. While plausible, there are no recorded cases of such an infection occurring in relation to the Black Talon bullets.[13] Winchester responded to the media criticism of the Black Talon line by removing it from the civilian market and only selling it to law enforcement distributors. Winchester has since discontinued the sale of the Black Talon entirely, although Winchester does market very similar ammunition, the Ranger T-Series to law enforcement and the Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1 to civilians.[14][15]

It might be "unmanned" but it still flown from the ground via a man\women. They have autopilot but they are flow by a human using remote control. So you are almost right.

You are smart. But you're still not rich. Must be too honest. Hmmmm

uacdub, That's why Todd was suggesting that they get Google involved. The implication is Google could give it the capability to fly itself back to base and land itself if contact with the bround-based pilot was broken

You can buy a $1200 unit for a remote control helicopter or multi-rotor craft that does this already, no internet or Goggle required. If it loses contact with the transmitter (or if you press the right button on the transmitter) it turns around and flies back to the location it took off from. It's called "return to home". There are thousands of such civilian hobby UAVs already flying. I imagine military units are just as capable. No need to contact Google for this.

@Todd, you do know now that somebody is going to take what you said and make million.

@baja5b, apperrently not. $1200 good one.

now they can fly on there own they don't need anyone from the ground it was on the news about it

Google "wookong-h" or "wookong-m".

@Todd-651965

Uhhh, isn't that the purpose of unmanned drones? There isn't a person inside to be injured or killed if it crashes.

Sure it is but I suspect it will be of little comfort to the person on the ground who is injured or killed when it crashes into them.

Considering the technology, I believe they lost contact because the UAV crashed and not the other way around.

If a NAVY Drone crashed, why do they have a picture of a USAF Drone in the article?

They have that capabillty but when it's broke, that doesn't help

How much ever unpalatable the case may be, one cant live in denial. It is unfortunate, but they do have our drone. It was accepted by our officials. Perhaps we'll learn from our mistakes.

I don't think we have a good record of learning from our mistakes.

No one does.

Certainly govmt hasnt learned.......NOR has the idiots who keep voting these has-beens in.........

It wasn't so much a mistake as it was the calculated cost of risking our hardware to surveil the Iranians. Kinda think it was worth it in this case.

I understand they are working on an ejection system for drone pilots.

Guesss he thought the guy on the ground flying it gets ejected from his computer seat.....

that would be way cool!!! if it were only true!!

I'd say about 10-15 of them. After all the lawsuits it would cost more money to fly them than not.

Let's ask the Pakistanis :)

But seriously, being a pilot I'm concerned about sharing airspace with pilotless aircraft. Hope the kids they are training to fly these airplanes don't confuse them with video games.

www.joystiq.com/2009/11/18/report-video-games-create-drone-pilot-naturals/

Pakistan does not have the amount of aircraft in their space as we do. There is one reprt already of a near miss with one of these things. In certain parts of the country mainly border and smugglin areas they will be more than useful and are no different than helicopter surveillence machines. We always hear Obam and the Patriot act but there is a big difference in how it is utilized under his admin and the previous one. Most of the act is beneficial to Americans it is the portion that may infringe on our rights that are the problem. They need to be reworked but will not with the nuckleheaded right wing controlling both houses like they do. Before you jump on that think fillerbuster

Wasn't there a suspected drone over Denver recently in DIA airspace that freaked a pilot out? When one causes a plane crash I think we will see some back lash.

What, like there has never been a manned aircraft that has crashed and killed people on the ground? The most recent one was in Nigeria. What about the family that crashed in Florida? Did you comment about airplanes being too dangerous then? Don't let progress and technology scare you. Orville Wright almost died in a crash during one of the early flights of the Wright Flyer, and it killed the passenger. That didn't stop him or his brother from continuing to perfect their flying machine.

@JM, you're not worried about getting into their air space? What keeps that from happening? just asking.

I do know about Air Traffic Control tunnels, etc.

6dogs,

Pilots flying under VFR (visual flight rules) are not under the control of air traffic control - you are not even required to be in radio contact, hell you are not even required to have a radio in your plane.

Air traffic is separated by altitudes depending on which way you are flying: if you are flying in an easterly direction, you fly at odd altitudes + 500 feet (4500, 5500, etc); if flying westerly, even + 500. Thing become fuzzy when you are changing direction and you are somewhat flying north or south (as that is when you are supposed to change altitudes).

Also, you climb to altitude and you descent to land. One can easily imagine two aircraft converging as one changes altitude and the other is flying level.

Short answer to your question: what keeps you from a midair is keeping your eyes outside and your head on a swivel.

I love that AB. Who is 'we' and under whose authority are they 'declaring' anything? Do you really think the better option is to risk a human life for mundane repetitive airborne tasks?

This is the 21st century. Get on the train or get left behind.

oh no...i was pick'n boogers...when it flew by...

Bob: Maybe you should assume your adult persona before commenting next time. Consider: You are foolish, uncouth and immature even if no one knows who you are.

Hey Joe S: do you feel a little better about yourself now?

And self-righteous indignation rears its ugly head. I can't wait for the day we can all sit around the stove at the FEMA camp & express our wisdom in person. (block this comment - I'm outta here)

and i ... feed'em to joe...

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist a last shot at Joe. Apparently you are not only an idiot. Your mamma probably tried to blame you on the mailman.

Oh my GAWD!!!! We're attacking Maryland!!!!

they flew it right over...ole Al Kiter's moonshine still...he's a good shot...

@Bull, and we havn't had to contain them since the Civil War.

Or like questioning your stupidity.

don

they should have crashed it into the ocean

What part of "operators lost contact with the aircraft" confused you?

As stupid as Bush was it was probably not his fault and people will stop blaming him for his mistakes after and only after we clean them up which will take sometime.

UFO = Underdevelopment Flying Object ;p

HA!! No wait it is an "Under-Developed FALLING Object!!"

Don, I don't think they could chose the location of the drone's crash. The story said they lost comm, so they lost guidance as well. That thing flew under its own guidance for a while, without a human in control. And it seems to me that Patuxent was executing a test flight, so it probably wasn't spying on anyone. But who knows?

The good news is that no civilians were killed or injured.

The scary thought is that human control can be lost, meaning these drones could be flying without guidance. This was a successful accident - without human loss of life. This time ...

@Jim- Not without guidance, just direct human contact and real time control. The on board guidance algorithms these UAVs have is staggering. These aren't balsa wood toys, they are nearly the size of regular military aircraft and are packed with sophisticated sensors for guidance and surveillance, as well as high powered processors to digest it all.

I'm impressed. Thanks for the info, biker4life.

I hear you brother!

I would truely hate to live in the same world as you and be afraid of every little thing.

You can do the same thing with helicopters and they have been up there for decades. Much ado about nothing. They can also track your cell phone from a computer on the ground. Only those who have something to hide fear these devices

breadex- yes, nothing to fear. Please explain that to the dozens of men who have been quietly released from Gitmo after years of incarceration because there was absolutely no evidence that they had any connection to terrorists. They were there usually because someone who had a personal bone to pick with them picked up the phone and called the "authorities" to turn them in for the reward.

We now live in the "see something, say something" USA. I personally do find it frightening. It use to be, if I wanted to go skinny dipping out in the pond on the back forty, I could. Even if the DEA helos were up, at least I could hear them before they could see me. Now, these little machines which operate from street level to several thousands feet can watch you without you ever knowing they are there, no matter what you are doing, (Or, who you are doing it with), being controlled by some kid in a darkened room who sits there for twelve hours a day with not very much to do. Yep, I feel totally secure in my person and papers.

This is not the country that I learned about in school. This is something all together different.

Read the hand writing on the wall, I think the they are not taking any chances that EU might fall on one hand. On the other the Reublicans are notorious for saying things to make them out for something they are not. They only tell half of what it is, thinking you won't look any deeper.

breadex - Ahhh! YES, the Silent Black Helicopters. Barely audible and harder to see.

Well Crow in a way you are singing an old song. The Who wrote a song about it. Look it's really very simple. I don't have a smart phone. I am not a criminal. I try to live and let live. God knows that I'm not perfect.

So, while I'm up on my soapbox for the last time tonight, I'll just leave these last few bread crumbs for the rest of you. I am a veteran. I have a hard time taking orders from people that I have no respect for! I am a Republican, and proud of it.You have a right to your own thoughts and beliefs. PERIOD. If you don't vote, it doesn't matter who you vote for, then you don't have a reason to gripe!!! I don't think anyone in Illinois can point to anything that Osam Obama passed while a Senator or whatever he was. All I can say is that he isn't good for anyone who is on Social Security. He garnered a lot of votes from the elderly when he ran for president. My mother, 80 years old, says that she just hopes she lives long enough to vote for someone else. She thinks Osama Obama is an idiot. That pretty much sums up the view of him here in Southern Illinois. Of course all of his cousins down here think he's great. What a joke.

If you don't want anyone to see you banging your wife go indoors. Drug dealers beware!! Thieves are the bane of any property owner. We had a rash of break ins and found out it was a gang from E. St. Louis coming 60 miles east to hit farms and isolated homes in the outlying areas. Rich farmers with lots of movable equipment, easily sold. Thieves beware, the next farm you ransack may be broadcasting the whole thing to the Illinois State Police. I don't think thieves have any expectation of privacy while they steal someones gun collection.

THIS IS AMERICA, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!

Sheesh, at least give Mr President Obama a chance before we hang and castrate him... LMAO

Wait, that will be Mr. President Romney's job.... ROFLMAO

By the way, my previous comment was being sarcastic.

I have always hoped and prayed for a better change in the United States.

It just seems that it has skewed from what it could have been.

As citizens, we should back Mr. President Obama as long as he is in office.

Our votes are what makes changes when it comes to whom is in the Presidental Office.

Joe-2460421 -Shut up Michael you republican piece of crap! You respect the Honorable President Obama!

Is that an order from the "Dis-Honorable Joe"? Tsk, tsk. Oh, I get it. This is more of the "Selective Freedom of Speech" brought to you by the "Honorable President Obama!" You're funny. Funny in the lunatic sense, not the humorous sense.

Sonya enjoy Osama Obama while he's still there! He won't be for long. He's going to lose this election because just like every other Chicago democrat he can sing and dance but he forgets what he has promised and to whom. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he isn't doing anything for anyone that doesn't further his campaign.

bigdaddysdawg

I did not vote for Mr. President Obama. Basically, I am saying respect the office of the President. He somehow got elected and the office deserves respect. I do not agree with 99.99% of his idealogical dreamworld that he may see himself in. I am still in shock that he got a Nobel Peace Prize.

The only choice I have to to show my opinion with my vote. I always vote for the least of all evils, hence, I did not vote for him before. Still, there is nothing wrong with my hopes for changes for the better. Say by fixing it so I do not have to pay for others to get new cars as with the cash for clunkers fiasco, while my newest vehicle is over 10 years old and will probably have to last me the rest of my lilfe. I do not like ethanol in my gasoline as it produces more harm to the environment when it is burned than just gasoline, yet we still have to buy it. I do not like paying for others to buy electric cars to fulfill Mr. President Obama's idealogical dreams, when it produces more emissions from the power plants or nuclear waste than just using a regular unleaded gasoline vehicle.

At least I will get my chance for renewed hope in just under 5 months from now.

As I said only those who have something to hide fear these things. Their benefits in a world like the one we live in far outreach petty fears some have of them.

I would encourage NO ONE to shoot at any aircraft.

Manned or not, it is an aircraft. That would bring terrorist charges.

It is totally against the law to try and even point a laser pen pointer at one.

Think what the punishment would be for shooting at one.

And if you did shoot at one, it probably had you on camera...

Never point anything at an airplaine of any sort!!!!!!!!!!!

So you're OK w/the military losing control of it's equipment and that equipment crashing in a random location that could have just as easily been your kid's school, a hospital, a ball park, an amusement park, a shopping center, etc.? Granted, this time it crashed in a relatively harmless way but are we supposed to wait until a catastrophe happens before trying to prevent one?

If military accidents are only in the imagination of the tin hat club then maybe you need to read this article again. You can disagree w/me but the way I read it we had a military accident in a civilian area which is not OK w/me.

int

So you're OK w/the military losing control of it's equipment and that equipment crashing in a random location that could have just as easily been your kid's school, a hospital, a ball park, an amusement park, a shopping center, etc.?

So what you are saying is. That all military aircraft must take off, fly and land from another country right? But it's ok for civilian aircraft, because they never crash. WOW! intelligent my a@s.

Gee fln,

How clever of you to know more about what I'm thinking and saying than I do. I was always hoping someone would explain my own thoughts to me as they are way to complex for my little donkey brain.

Have you ever heard of military bases and test ranges like the White Sands Missile Test Range in NM which you can find out about here:

http://www.wsmr.army.mil/Pages/Home.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_Missile_Range

These test areas are specifically designed for the military (Army in this case) to test aircraft over and is patrolled so there are no civilians around in case of a crash?

I realize there are going to be accidents but these drones are all relatively new technology so how about if we wring out the bugs some place other than over civilians whom we are trying to protect aye? After we can prove these drones fail safely then we can authorize them for use in civilian space just like private industry has to make our products fail safely before we are allowed to deploy them for commercial and/or consumer use.

Hee Haw

Intelligent, any aircraft, once it is in the air, has to come back down somehow. Most of the time they come down under control but, on rare occasions they don't. Typically, for military training flights, manned or unmanned, they try to avoid populated areas as much as possible.

I believe they lost contact with this aircraft because it crashed and not the other way around. At least, without a pilot, these things are much smaller and therefore, cause less damage when they do crash.

"these things are much smaller", Much smaller than what? At 44' long this thing is longer than a city bus!! With their stubby wings they must maintain a high air-speed except on landing or they come down. Do you have any idea how much damage a 44 foot long high speed rock can cause when it hits something? Somebodies house for instance.

Is it off the west coast ? And will you take a check ? I have always wanted land in Florida. Maybe I could grow some grapefruit trees and harvest the fruit for juice? that would be good.

Then I could get together enough money so I could buy a drone of my own and protect my land and orchard? That would be great. OOOPS they are here with my nightly medicine have to go.

Hahaahahahaaaaaaa !

Of course we can trust our gubernmunt and we can believe them in every statement !

Haahahahahaaaaa . We are definitely screwed people SCREWED.

Just letting off some 'steam'.

Tired,

I cannot imagine a scenario where it would be OK to crash a 44' long hunk of metal into some place even remotely near civilians who are paying for the mission. If the pilot crashed it before losing contact then we should expect the next pilot w/similar training to do the same thing right? If they lost contact before crashing it then we should expect the next drone built the same way to also lose contact and crash right? Either way, crashing a military vehicle into civilian space is simply not OK w/me. You are free to disagree w/me but I want to see corrective action before the next drone flight over civilian space.

Josh,

ROFLMAO. I just Hee Haw to let off steam. Yeah the neighbors think I'm weird.

Hee Haw

"crashing a military vehicle into a civilian space is simply no OK w/me." So a civilian vehicle crashing would be okay or if it was a military space that would be okay too? Crashing any aircraft, 44' long or otherwise, into a populated area is wrong no matter what. A 747 is in excess of 230' long and an F15 is 63' long. Any of those things are going to do a lot of damage if they crash into a populated area. My point was, anything you put in the air can crash, whether the pilot is in the cockpit or sitting in a building 100 miles away. Drones are smaller and lighter than a majority of piloted aircraft and would do less damage if they crashed but, that doesn't mean crashing is okay.

Drones cost millions of dollars. Losing, even one, is a big deal. You make it sound like if one of these things crashes the military will just shrug and say "bring us another!" I can assure you, that is not and never will be the case. This crash will be thoroughly investigated. If the problem was preventable and determination will be made as to who was at fault and those responsible will be punished accordingly.

Another thing, these aircraft are maintained and flown by highly trained professionals who are regularly tested and must maintain very high standards of physical and mental health as well as technical ability. If you want to worry about something falling out of the sky, think about all those privately owned aircraft whose pilots and maintenance personnel don't have anywhere near the same standards. I believe, if you check it out, you will find that there are more than 100 privately owned aircraft (general aviation) crashes to every one military aircraft crashes, each year.

The military expect to be put in harm's way while civilians do not; therefore, a civilian vehicle crashing in military space, while not desired, would be more acceptable IMO than a military vehicle crashing in civilian space.

RE GA aircraft, all of them have pilots on board giving them a much better chance of dodging a critical target. I witnessed a plane crash on a resort island where the plane was out of control heading for a heavily populated area where it may have landed well enough for the passengers to survive while killing many people on the ground. But the pilot (who had over 1000 hrs flying this plane) managed to dodge and unfortunately hit a gas station and blew up. All aboard the plane were killed but ground casualties were minimal (I think only 2). An unmanned drone would have hit lots of innocent folks on the ground.

My point is that instead of putting our military personnel in harms way to protect our civilians it seems to me that using drones in civilian space puts the civilians in harms way to protect our military personnel. So..why do we need to do this? Is it to protect our gvt from the taxpayers?

The ends simply do not justify the means IMO.

The whole story Jossee? Just what is the whole story according to you? Are you an inbred conspiracy theorist. The sky is falling type? Republicans, Tea Party idiots and Conspiracy nuts. Just a sample of the loons coming out of the republican party. Also if it was something secret what gives you the right to know? You people make me sick. Your the type of folks who I would never want in charge. Imagine me living under your paranoid tyranical beliefs. Good Day, Joe.

People with tinfoil hats believe that not normal people

WOW. Are you sure it actually fell?

or in this case:

fire

aim

ready

I hear there's cheap housing on the coast of MD where they fly these drones. Why don't you move your whole family there?

I don't think it's a conspiracy, I think it's typical gvt incompetence and lack of concern for the citizens.

Hee Haw

Hey donkey, did it occur to you that there are those of us that aren't doing anything wrong, yet value our privacy? I happen to be one of them. Tired of you wimps who don't value your privacy or security enough to take a stand and say enough is enough.

It was a test flight. Any plane can come down and most fly over populated areas. Apparently it was't too populated an area since no damage was done.

True freedom also means freedom FROM the government. The government already tracks your entire life with your "Cradle to Grave Tracking Number" (SSN). Now they want to watch it play out in real time with these drones. I am breaking no laws and therefore as long as that remains the case what you or I do is none of the governments business. None at all.

If it's OK to you that the government can track your every move, your every transaction, then you my friend, have agreed to surrender the freedoms so many that came before us fought, died, and sacrificed to acquire and preserve. The very concept of freedom is to be FREE from government interference in ones life as long as that person is not breaking any law or infringing on another's rights. Unless one is breaking the law or infringing on another citizen's rights the government at any level has no right or reason to be involved in your life whatsoever.

We have this little document called the Constitution that spells out and limits the governments powers and authority which has been increasingly ignored over the past 50 years and it will continue to be ignored and trampled on even more as long as we Americans allow it. The putting a stop to this begins with putting an end to voter apathy. The next step is to show both parties that the voters still control things by voting out each and every incumbent from both parties and voting in Independent candidates at every chance, therefore severely limiting the power of the two parties that have brought us to where we are today over the last 158 years since the end of the Whig party in 1854. Since then it has been either Democrats or Republicans in power and they are the ones who got us where we are today. The founding fathers would sob uncontrollably and scream,"What have they done to the country we created ?!!!" They would most definitely NOT be proud of the state of our nation and the seriously eroded liberties they believed in.

Benjamin Franklin once said,"Those who would trade liberty for security will have neither and deserve neither." Truer words were never spoken. Think about it.

bobaloo,

I think we're really in agreement here. My comment about gvt lack of concern for the citizens was meant to also include lack of concern for the rights of the citizens which includes the citizens' right to privacy as you'd stated.

IMO I don't see how these drones searching (w/o a warrant) for whatever they happen to find meet the requirements of the 4th amendment which calls for a warrant to issue stating the specific areas to be searched and items to be searched for prior to that search. Best case scenario is that these drones help catch a terrorist who then gets off and counter sues us based on 4th amendment breach.

Hee Haw