U.S. Unmanned Vehicle Goes Down In Macedonia

U.S. Unmanned Vehicle
Goes Down In Macedonia



06/05/00 07:37:24 AM U.S. EDT

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) — A unmanned NATO spy plane lost power on a mission over southern Kosovo and was forced to make a parachute landing early Saturday, a U.S. Army statement said. The small U.S. plane, called Hunter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, went down just after midnight inside Macedonia, within two miles of the Kosovo border, the statement said without providing details.

It was unknown if the plane had been damaged. U.S. army officials in the peacekeeping force in Kosovo were reportedly working with Macedonia's government to recover the aircraft.

It was the second time in two weeks that an unmanned NATO aircraft was forced to make an unscheduled landing in the area. A British “Phoenix” was forced last week to make a parachute landing in the ground safety zone, which is the three mile buffer zone along Kosovo's boundary with Serbia proper, sources in the NATO-led mission said.

NATO aircraft patrol the border to give early warning of any potential intrusions. However, the “Phoenix” aircraft was recovered by Yugoslav forces.


Copyright AviationNow