A 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing UAV was ditched at 9:48 a.m. North of MCAS Cherry Point. Ditching is defined as a planned event in which a flight crew knowingly makes a controlled emergency landing in the water.
The Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 was conducting a local familiarization flight training when the mishap occurred. The aircraft was located and was recovered around 4 p.m. by Cherry Point and U.S. Navy personnel.
The UAV was a Shadow, a small non-jet aircraft that's 11 feet in length with a 14-foot wingspan. It weighs less than 400 pounds and doesn't carry weapons.
It's the second time a UAV was ditched in the Neuse River. A similar incident happened on June 24. That drone was never found.
The cause of the ditching is still under investigation.
