A newly released US Air Force Abbreviated Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) report has revealed the previously unreported loss of an MQ-9A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) in an unspecified location in the US Africa Command (US AFRICOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR) on June 24, 2020.
The report, released on June 8, 2021, identifies the MQ-9A involved as tail number 08-4051 assigned to the Arizona Air National Guard’s 214th Attack Group ‘Black Sheep’ – a component of the 162nd Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. On June 24, 2020, at 0933hrs Zulu time (Z), the mishap aircraft (MA), an MQ-9A, tail number (T/N) 08-4051, crashed in an undisclosed location within the US AFRICOM (African Command) AOR. Assigned to the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing, the MA was operated by the 214th Attack Squadron Mission Control Element (MCE) located at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, at the time of the mishap.