Navy’s Unmanned Aircraft Searcher Goes Down in Kochi Shortly After Take-off

KOCHI:
An unmanned aircraft ‘searcher’, which was on a routine surveillance mission, went down north of the naval airfield INS Garuda earlier Tuesday, the Indian Navy said in a statement.
No casualty or damage to property has been reported. The remotely piloted drone crashed shortly after take-off at 10:25 am.
“The aircraft crashed in the vicinity of the HHA tank terminal on the northern side of Willingdon Island,” the Navy said. A Board of Inquiry has been constituted to probe the cause of the crash. The drone crash comes on a day Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu is in the city for a two-day visit. In his first visit to Kerala after taking office, the VP will inaugurate the 11th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum and will attend the golden jubilee celebrations of the Kochi Corporation on Wednesday.
He will also take part in the 160th year celebrations of the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry before flying back to New Delhi tomorrow from the naval airport.