Note: This database cover UAV crashes since 01 Jan 2007. It has been compiled from USAF Accident Investigation Board (AIB) Reports, the Wikileaks War Logs and reports from the general and military press. It does not include crashes by mini-UAV’s like Raven and Scan Eagle as they crash so often it would swamp the database (see this report for the number of mini-UAV crashes mentioned in the Wikileaks War Logs). This list is almost certainly not complete. If you know of any other large drone crashes not mentioned in the database please let me know.
For analysis of drone crashes see ‘A Century of Drone Crashes’
Last updated: 02 Jan 2013
| Date | Drone Type | Cause/ Details | Where | Reference | |||||
| 21 Dec 2012 | Unknown | South Waziristan | Press Report | ||||||
| 5 Dec 2012 | Unknown | Omdurman, Sudan | Press Report | ||||||
| 5 Dec 2012 | USAF MQ-9 Reaper | Nevada, US | Press Report | ||||||
| 22 Oct 2012 | Unknown Israeli | Israel | Press Report | ||||||
| 27 Sept 2012 | Turkish ANKA | Turkey | Press Report | ||||||
| 25 July 2012 | US MQ1 Predator & MQ1 C Gray Eagle | El Mirage, Arizona | Press Report | ||||||
| 14 July 2012 | Unknown Hezbollah | Lebanon | Press Report | ||||||
| 19 June 2012 | Unknown ISAF | Kunar, Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 11 June 2012 | US Navy BAMS | Maryland, USA | US Navy Press release | ||||||
| 19 May 2012 | Unknown Pakistan army | Mianwali District, Pakistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 10 May 2012 | Schiebel S-100 | Loss of GPS | South Korea | Press Report | |||||
| 29 April 2012 | Unknown ISAF | Ghazni Province, Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 14 April 2012 | USAF MQ1-B Predator | Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 25 Feb 2012 | Unknown | Miranshah, Pakistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 21 Feb 2012 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Mechanical failure | Djibouti | USAF Accident Report (PDF) | |||||
| 16 Feb 2012 | Searcher II | India | Press Report/ | ||||||
| 14 Feb 2012 | USAF MQ1-B Predator | Mechanical failure | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Report (PDF) | |||||
| 03 Feb 2012 | Unknown | Somalia | Press Report | ||||||
| 30 Jan 2012 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Mechanical failure | Kandahar, Afghanistan | USAF Accident Report (PDF) | |||||
| 29 Jan 2012 | Heron TP | Israel | Press Report | ||||||
| 28 Jan 2012 | Unknown | Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 2011 | |||||||||
| 27 Dec 2011 | Unknown | Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 13 Dec 2011 | US Predator MQ-9 | Seychelles | Press Report | ||||||
| 4 Dec 2011 | US Sentinel MQ-170 | Iran | Press Report | ||||||
| 11 Nov 2011 | Israeli Heron | Turkey | Press Report | ||||||
| 7 Oct 2011 | USAF Reaper MQ-9 | New Mexico | Press Report | ||||||
| 24 Aug 2011 | Chinese Pterodactyl | Hebei province, China | Press Report | ||||||
| 24 Aug 2011 | USAF Reaper MQ-9 | Texas | Press Report | ||||||
| 20 Aug 2011 | USAF Global Hawk RQ-4 | Jalalabad, Afghanistan | Press reports USAF Accident Report | ||||||
| 15 Aug 2011 | Shadow | Collides with Cargo plane | Afghanistan | Press reports | |||||
| 11 Aug 2011 | DARPA HTV-2 | Wear to outer skin | Pacific Ocean | Press Report | |||||
| 19 Jul 2011 | Unknown Pakistani Navy | Karachi | Press report | ||||||
| 10 July 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Report | ||||||
| 28 Jun 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Afghanistan | ISAF report | ||||||
| 5 June 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Report | ||||||
| 17 May 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Djibouti | USAF Accident Report | ||||||
| 7 May 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Djibouti | USAF Accident Report | ||||||
| 5 May 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1 | Khandhar, Afghanistan | USAF Accident Report | ||||||
| 1 May 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1 | Afghanistan | UAF Accident Report | ||||||
| 1 Apr 2011 | Global Observer | California | Press reports | ||||||
| 1 Apr 2011 | USAF MQ-9 Reaper | New Mexico | Press reports | ||||||
| 15 Mar 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Djibouti | Press Report | ||||||
| 4 Mar 2011 | Turkish Heron | Mardin, Turkey | Press Report | ||||||
| 8 Feb 2011- | USAF Predator | Loder, Yemen | Press Report | ||||||
| 14 Jan 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Djibouti | USAF Accident report | ||||||
| 3 Jan 2011 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Kandahar | USAF Accident report | ||||||
| 2010 | |||||||||
| 14 Dec 2010 | Mexican Orbiter UAV | El Paso, Texas | Press Report | ||||||
| 9 Dec 2010 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Pilot error | Kandahar | USAF Accident report | |||||
| 28 Oct 2010 | USAF MQ-9 Reaper | Holloman AFB, New Mexico | Press Report | ||||||
| 22 Oct 2010 | USAF MQ-1 Predator | Holloman AFB, New Mexico | US Military Press Release | ||||||
| 21 Oct 2010 | IDF Skylark | Gaza Strip | Press Report | ||||||
| 07 Oct 2010 | Unknown | East Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| 19 Sep 2010 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Mechanical failure | Kabul | USAF Accident report | |||||
| 31 Aug 2010 | USAF MQ-9 Reaper | US California | Press Report | ||||||
| 16 Aug 2010 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | Pilot error | Balad Airbase, Iraq | USAF Accident report | |||||
| 29 Jul 2010 | Boeing A160T unmanned helicopter | Boeing test facility, California | Press Report | ||||||
| 28 Jul 2010 | USAF Predator MQ-1B | New Mexico | USAF Accident report | ||||||
| 16 Jul 2010 | Heron UAV | Canada | Press Report | ||||||
| 4 June 2010 | Australian Heron | Kandhar | Press Report | ||||||
| 20 Apr 2010 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Pilot error | US, California | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Mar 14 2010 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | South Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| Feb 09 2010 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Eastern Afghanistan | Press Report | ||||||
| Jan 24 2010 | US Predator ? | Pakistan | Press Report | ||||||
| Jan 14 2010 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Southern Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | ||||||
| Jan 13 2010 | Italian Predator MQ-1B | Italy | Press Report | ||||||
| 2009 | |||||||||
| Dec 13 2009 | USAF Hunter UAV | Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Nov 22 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | ||||||
| Nov 14 2009 | Armed uav – type unknown | Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Oct 3 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | ||||||
| Sep 24 2009 | German LUNA | Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Sep 23 2009 | Unknown (Falco?) | Parc Aberporth, Wales | Press Report | ||||||
| Sep 14 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Mechanical failure | Iraq | USAF Accident InvestigationWikileaks War Log Report | |||||
| Sep 13 2009 | Armed MQ-9 Reaper | Rogue drone shot down | Afghanistan | Press Report | |||||
| Sep 112009 | MQ-1 Predator | Holloman AFB, New Mexico | Press Report | ||||||
| Sep 042009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Mechanical failure | Afghanistan | USAF Accident InvestigationWikileaks War Logs Report | |||||
| Aug 13 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Mechanical failure | Iraq | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Aug 12 2009 | GNAT | Mosul, Iraq | Wikileaks War Log Report | ||||||
| July 04 2009 | USAF MQ-9 Reaper | Kandahar, Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Jun 02 2009 | Hermes UAV | Engine Failure | Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | |||||
| May 13 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Unknown – no wreckage found | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| May 08 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Weather and Mechanical failure | Ghazani, Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Apr 28 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Mechanical failure | Creech AFB, Nevada | USAF Accident Investigtion | |||||
| Apr 20 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Electrical failure | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Mar 14 2009 | Canadian SPERWER | Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Mar 20 2009 | USAF MQ-9 Reaper crash | Mechanical failure | Fort Irwin, California | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Feb 22 2009 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Electrical failure | Iraq | USAF Accident InvestigationWikileaks War Logs Report | |||||
| 2008 | |||||||||
| Dec 04 2008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Balad, Iraq | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Nov 20 2008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Nov 02 2008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Pilot error | Kanhahar, Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Oct 25 2008 | SPERWER UAV | Afghanistan | WikileaksWar Logs Report | ||||||
| Oct 21 2008 | Canadian SPERWER UAV | Afghanistan | Wikileaks War Logs Report | ||||||
| Aug 19 2008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Mechanical failure | Iraq | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Aug 012008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Electrical failure | Balad, Iraq | USAF Accident InvestigationWikileaks War Logs Report | |||||
| Jul 212008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Hazardous weather | Iraq | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Jun 02 2008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Electrical failure | Balad, Iraq | USAF Accident InvestigationWikileaks War Logs Report | |||||
| May 022008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Engine failure | Iraq | USAF Accident InvestigationWikileaks War Logs Report | |||||
| Apr 09 2008 | USAF MQ-1B Predator crash | Mechanical failure | Iraq | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Apr 09 2008 | RAF MQ-9 Reaper | Mechanical failure | Afghanistan | Press Reporte | |||||
| Jan 13 2008 | Unknown | Crashed into Airport terminal | Iraq | Wikileaks War Logs Report | |||||
| 2007 | |||||||||
| Dec 11 2007 | Boeing A160T unmanned helicopter | California | Press Report | ||||||
| Dec 17 2007 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Power system failure | Iraq | USAF Accident InvestigationWikileaks War Logs report | |||||
| Nov 29 2007 | USAF MQ-1L Predator | Communication failure | Iraq | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Aug 20 2007 | USAF MQ-1BPredator | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||||
| Jul 31 2007 | USAF MQ-1L Preator | Engine failure | Iraq | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Jul 30 2007 | USAF MQ-1BPredator | Engine failure | Iraq | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Mar 26 2007 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Pilot error | Afghanistan | USAF Accident Investigation | |||||
| Jan 17 2007 | USAF MQ-1B Predator | Engine failure | Iraq | USAF Investigation | |||||
A few updates for you:
June 26th : ISAF Unidentified UAV
Crashed in Kaspisa Province, North eastern Afghanistan No insurgent activity was reported in the area at the time
June 27th: ISAF . Unidentified UAV
Crashed in Heret Province Western Afghanistan, But ISAF said landing site made secure and UAV recovered. No insurgent activity was reported in the area at the time
Jun 28th ISAF . Unidentified UAV
Crashed in Kunar province ,eastern Afghanistan at 1400hrs , ISAF officials stated that the crash site was made secure and the UAV recovered with intial reports indicating that there was no insurgent activity in the area at the time.
Update:
Jul 19th Pakistani Navy , UAV was a UQAB-II UAV
All information taken from Sept issue of Airforces monthly. (issue 282)
October 11th 2011 Shadow Korea
For a dissection of a drone crash, check this one out
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/service-inquiry-investigating-the-accident-involving-unmanned-air-system-uas-hermes-450-zk515-on-02-oct-11