Global Hawk flight suspended after communications failure

More problems for Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk UAV. We have already reported on the craft’s troubles in Afghnaistan — it is said to have a crash rate more than fifty times that of F-16 fighter jets — and have noted that operator error and communications problems are often the causes (this is true for all UAVs, not just the Global Hawk). Now we hear that flights from Beale Air Force Base in California have been suspended while officials puzzle out why the craft briefly lost communications contact with ground control during its maiden flight from the base last month. This cannot be good news for Northrop, considering that the Global Hawk is presently competing for the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV program.

The lost link lasted less than a minute and occured at the end of the flight, right after aircraft controllers authorized it to land. Instead, it started ascending. The controllers “just saw a behavior they hadn’t expected, and that caused them a little concern,” said an anonymous insider. The aircraft eventually landed without incident. “We’re still looking at the problem and we’re still working very closely internally and externally with the FAA and the local flying community,” said a base spokesman. “Safety is our first concern. We want to make sure we address this.” A Northrop spokeswoman said that training flights at Beale could resume next week, weather permitting.

-read more in Jefferson Morris’s Aerospace Daily & Defense report