Air Force Drone Crash Closes Florida Highway

Stephen Pope

Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 09:07 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

An Air Force QF-4 target drone crashed on takeoff near Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, exploding in a fireball.
The incident forced the closure of Highway 98 for potentially up to 24 hours, but no injuries were reported.
The QF-4, a modified F-4 Phantom, is used for target practice to simulate enemy fighters, and uncertainty regarding its 24-hour self-destruct feature contributed to the highway closure delay.

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An Air Force drone crashed on takeoff on Wednesday, exploding in a fireball and forcing the closure of a Florida Panhandle highway. Officials said no one was injured but the road could be closed for up to 24 hours.

The Air Force shut down Highway 98 near Tyndall Air Force Base west of Panama City after the QF-4 drone, a modified F-4 Phantom, crashed on a test flight. Unlike surveillance drones in the military’s arsenal, the QF-4 is used for target practice, usually by F-22 pilots.