Bald Eagle takes out $950 government EGLE drone and sends it crashing into Lake Michigan after aerial battle
A BALD eagle took down a $950 government drone, tearing off its propeller and sending the machine catapulting to the ground.
The run-in took place over Lake Michigan, where Hunter King, a drone pilot at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), was monitoring an area of the lake near the state’s Upper Peninsula.
The EGLE drone ended up at the bottom of the lake following the fracas on July 21.
King had been attempting to map shoreline erosion for use in the agency’s efforts to document and help communities cope with high water levels.
King had completed about seven minutes of the mapping flight — his fourth of the day in the area — when satellite reception got spotty.
He pressed the “Go Home” recall button and the drone dutifully turned around and headed back to base.
The drone was on its return journey when it began “twirling furiously”, according to the department.
“It was like a really bad rollercoaster ride,” said King.
A nearby couple later confirmed to King they saw the eagle strike something but were surprised to learn it was a drone.
Both King and the couple said the eagle appeared uninjured as it flew from the scene of the crime.
Most read in News
The department dispatched its Unmanned Aircraft Systems to search for the drone.
Arthur Ostaszewski brought a kayak and snorkeling gear to hunt for the drone, but soon scrapped the gear due to near-zero visibility and decided to shuffle around the bed of the lake with his feet – “like I was playing Battleship and wanted to cover the entire board”.
The search was eventually abandoned, leaving Michigan’s state department to muse: “The attack could have been a territorial squabble with the electronic foe, or just a hungry eagle. Or maybe it did not like its name being misspelled.”