Navy drone pilot saves $2.5 million aircraft from plunging into ocean

By Dean Murray

The lightning-fast reflexes of a Royal Navy drone pilot prevented a $2.5m aircraft from plunging into the ocean.

Lieutenant Commander Adrian ‘AJ’ Hill grabbed the controls and steered the Peregrine mini-helicopter to safety – earning him the first aircrew commendation for a drone operator.

‘Green Endorsements’ are the highest awards for safety in both the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force – but until Lt Cdr Hill’s exploits no drone pilot had been decorated with one.

The 10-foot-long surveillance drone was hovering in autonomous mode at 60 feet, just off the stern of HMS Lancaster at the end of an otherwise routine 2½ hour patrol, scouring the Gulf of Oman for potential drug traffickers.

Lt Cdr Hill, a flight commander with 700X Naval Air Squadron, said: “It went very low. It was only about one to two feet from the sea. A quarter of a second later it would have touched – and if it’s in the sea then it’s ‘game over.’”

The Peregrine – the name given by the navy for the 200-kg S-100 ‘camcopter’ developed by Schiebel with additional military sensors/system installed for operations – suddenly suffered a computer error and began to plunge towards the water.

The Royal Navy said: "Luckily, its operators were already in position, preparing to land the drone manually."