Police Drone Crashes in Lake Conroe

[WildBill]

Divers spent the majority of Friday afternoon searching for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office half-million-dollar drone that crashed into Lake Conroe. Operators of the unmanned aerial vehicle were out on Lake Conroe conducting exercises with the drone when it “malfunctioned,” according to MCSO Public Information Officer Brady Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald said it had not been determined what caused the drone to crash into the lake. The Sheriff’s Office also declined to specify where the Shadowhawk, designed and manufactured by Vanguard Defense Industries in Spring, entered the water for fear members of the public might launch their own search missions.

Divers with the Precinct 1 Constable’s Lake Patrol joined in the recovery effort Friday, not long after the remote-controlled helicopter disappeared in Lake Conroe. Lt. Tim Cade, of the Lake Conroe Dive Team, referred all questions regarding the recovery effort to the MCSO.

The MCSO purchased the Shadowhawk for approximately $500,000 in October 2011. MCSO’S version was funded by Department of Homeland Security grants. The Shadowhawk contains powerful video and thermal imaging surveillance equipment. The Shadowhawk weighs 29 pounds, is 92 inches long and almost 30 inches in height.

This isn’t the first time the Sheriff’s drone has gone awry. In March 2012, it was 15 feet off the ground when the helicopter started to oscillate. The aircraft’s rotor blades clipped a nearby SWAT truck, inflicting damage before crashing.

$500,000!

Maybe they ought to hire a teenage gamer to fly the thing.


http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/ ... 7a731.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[suthdj]

Drone hunting season?

[howdy]

This crash saved some good 'ol boy from a felony charge for blowing this thing out of the sky.

[Pawpaw]

I wonder if it was brought down by Depleted Uranium Shotgun Loads?

[C-dub]

Maybe Al Qaeda hacked into it and crashed it into the lake. Or a bunch of high school computer geeks.

[rbwhatever1]

Good for the Citizens of Montgomery County. That drone is exactly where it should be. Montgomery Counties budget needs to be deeply cut.

[gringo pistolero]

Drone Don't Surf

[flintknapper]

Good place for it! Hope it stays there.

[Wodathunkit]

I love feel good stories!

[Syntyr]

I could sell them a quadracopter cheap! Say 300,000! In fact I will sell them TWO for 400,000! That way they have back up! Heck I will even put a video feed on it...

[philip964]

Wow price has dropped to only $250,000 now.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/diver ... e/25711450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Still from the photo even $250,000 seems high. Maybe they were early adopters and they were more expensive then.

Does it have a pinger on it? Will eventually they need a towed sonar array to find it? At least they know where the haystack is.

[SQLGeek]

Still from the photo even $250,000 seems high. Maybe they were early adopters and they were more expensive then.

Don't forget the typical markup when selling to a government agency, especially when the item is being purchased with a Federal grant (free money, no stewardship required dontchaknow).

[WildBill]

The drone has been recovered. According to the article, "It was substantially damaged."


http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 464205.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PBratton]

The drone has been recovered. According to the article, "It was substantially damaged."


http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 464205.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So, maybe when they send it in to get refurbished, they can equip it with pontoons...

[J.R.@A&M]

Flying too low while scouting for deer in the Sam Houston NFWMA?





















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