Mishap at E. Oregon drone range starts fire

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) – Firefighters extinguished a small fire at an Eastern Oregon drone range.

Range manager Darryl Abling told the East Oregonian newspaper that the mishap occurred Saturday at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. He declined to say what type of unmanned aircraft system was involved or what went wrong during the test.

There were no injuries or damaged property.

The airport control tower notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the institution that oversees all unmanned-aircraft operations in Oregon.

Abling declined to identify the organization that was testing the drone, although he said it is a customer of the range and the FAA authorized the operation.

The organization won’t be allowed to fly at the range until after a review.

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Information from: East Oregonian, http://www.eastoregonian.com