UNMANNED SPY PLANE CRASHES AFTER TEST FLIGHT.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

A Global Hawk unmanned spy plane was damaged when the aircraft went off the runway after a flight test, the Air Force said Tuesday.

The $15 million aircraft was taxiing when it veered off the runway, officials said. The plane was damaged when its front landing gear collapsed.

An accident investigation board is being formed to determine the cause of the mishap.

Shorter than an F-16 fighter but with the wingspan of a 737 jetliner, the Global Hawk is designed to range as far as 15,500 miles at heights of 65,000 feet, flying as long as 40 hours at a time.

The aircraft is being designed to provide the Air Force with a high-altitude battlefield reconnaissance. Its radar can look through clouds to watch tanks or other targets moving on the ground, and its video camera and infrared sensors can watch an area the size of Illinois, officials said.

In March, a Global Hawk aircraft was lost when it crashed at a test range at the China Lake Naval Weapons Center near Ridgecrest. The aircraft had been flying a flight test mission from Edwards when the crash occurred.

The Air Force has not released the accident report from the March crash, but aviation trade publications, quoting unidentified sources, attributed the crash to an accidental activation of the aircraft's auto-destruct mechanism.