According to Air Combat Command accident investigation boards a Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle crashed because of a quill shaft bearing failure and an improperly assembled oil system temperature control valve, respectively. The MQ-1 Predator that crashed Oct. 19, 2008, just short of Ali Base in Iraq was destroyed upon impact. The failure of its quill shaft bearing caused the UAV’s variable pitch propeller to change pitch leading it to reverse thrust. The bearing apparently had been used “beyond the designed specifications,” according to the ACC release. The MQ-9 Reaper crashed March 20 of this year at Ft. Irwin, Calif., when it suffered “a severe oil flow imbalance which resulted in engine failure,” stated the ACC release. The improper assembly of the aircraft’s oil system temperature control valve caused the oil flow imbalance.
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.