Very Rough Landing at Army Base

A too-short landing at an Army reserve base in California caused substantial damage Air Tractor's AT-802U surveillance, precision strike and utility demonstrator aircraft on 21 October. According to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, a pilot and flight test engineer flying in the two-seat modified agricultural single at the time were testing maximum performance takeoffs and landings on the 1,829m (6,000ft) hard clay Schoonover runway at Fort Hunter Liggett California when the accident occurred. Neither was injured. Marketing materials, which prominently feature N4247U, reveal that the AT-802U is designed to fly for 10h and carry munitions on 11 hard points under the wings and fuselage, including Gatling guns, Hellfire missiles, laser-guided rockets and laser-guided bombs.