An Air Force Accident Investigation Board was not able to determine why an MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle that crashed May 13 (earlier reported as May 14) in Afghanistan lost contact with its ground control station, Air Combat Command announced Sept. 22. Operators were unable to reestablish a return link, and officials presumed the UAV went down in a forward operating area. The AIB found “sufficient evidence” to rule out “weather, icing, aircrew performance or qualifications, fuel starvation, or maintenance discrepancies,” the release said. The UAV was valued at some $3.9 million.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.