FILE - In a Monday, June 30, 2008, file photo, Beale Air Force Base Airmen work on an RQ-4 Global Hawk into its hangar at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County, Calif. An RQ-4 Global Hawk crashed in a remote section of eastern California near Mt. Whitney. Edwards Air Force Base said in a statement that the unmanned surveillance aircraft was making a routine trip Wednesday, June 21, 2017, from Edwards to its usual home at Beale Air Force Base when it crashed for unknown reasons. (Chris Kaufman/The Appeal-Democrat via AP, File)
Republished June 21, 2017 - 10:21 PM
Original Publication Date June 21, 2017 - 9:44 PM
BISHOP, Calif. - A U.S. Air Force drone the size of a small airliner crashed in a remote section of California near Mt. Whitney.
Edwards Air Force Base said in a statement that the RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned surveillance aircraft, was making a routine trip Wednesday afternoon from Edwards to its usual home at Beale Air Force Base when it crashed for unknown reasons.
The Inyo County Sheriff's Department said the crash caused a small wildfire that was quickly under control.
The aircraft with a 130-foot wingspan is designed to fly at high altitudes for long distances. It's slowly replacing the manned U-2 spy planes used for decades by the Air Force.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017