A new unmanned intelligence gathering and surveillance aircraft on a test flight made a crash landing at Naval Base Ventura County.
An MQ-4C Triton was on a test flight Wednesday afternoon when it had a mechanical problem. As a precaution, the pilot shut down the engine, and tried to land the aircraft on a runway at Point Mugu. The craft’s landing gear wouldn’t deploy, so the pilot made a belly landing. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the problem which triggered the emergency landing is under investigation.
The Triton is a new high tech aircraft designed to fly up to 30 hours, at a height of 55,000 feet. It’s 47 feet long, with a 130 foot wingspan. With its advanced technology, it can survey 2.7 million miles of ocean during a 24 hour period.