A Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) aircraft crashed at an open field in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka on Tuesday morning. No injuries have been reported in the crash. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed at an agricultural field in Jodichikkenahalli. The aircraft crashed at 6 am in the morning.
“It’s a Rustom-2 UAV from DRDO. Test trials were being conducted and it failed and fell in the open field. People were curious as to what it was and they gathered. We have cordoned off the area now and police are at the spot,” a police officer said.
The incident created quite a scare at Jodichillenahalli village as a loud noise was heard after the drone crashed. Soon, a large number of people gathered at the spot.
DRDO officials rushed to the spot following the crash. The organisation has a test range very close to its headquarters in Chitradurga.
The Challakere Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) is an out-door testing and evaluating facility set up by DRDO exclusively for unmanned and manned aircraft.
Confirming the incident, Chitradurga Superintendent of Police Arun K told PTI that the UAV crashed in the areca nut farm this morning, but no one was injured. Videos of the broken UAV has gone viral on the social media. According to state government officials, the testing of aerial vehicle called ‘Rustom-2’ was in progress when the incident occurred.