Border Patrol Drone Crash Lands While Inbound to Mathis Field

SAN ANGELO, TX — A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) MQ-9 UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) — or drone — crash-landed south of Goodfellow Air Force Base off South Gas Plant Road at around 3 p.m. Sunday, July 14, 2024. The MQ-9 operation is based at San Angelo’s Mathis Field, the municipal airport. Goodfellow AFB's runways have been closed for decades.

The drones take off and land from Mathis and climb in a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) area located south-southeast of Mathis between U.S. 67 and U.S. 277. They reach an altitude of around 20,000 feet and then generally proceed toward the U.S.-Mexico border on missions to interdict drugs crossing the border. Most of the CBP MQ-9s are equipped with a VaDER pod, which provides low-light TV, infrared, and radar imagery of the target.

On a mission, the UAS will climb when departing to the south or descend when arriving within the circular TFR before flying to Mathis Field at around 3,000 feet to land. The UAS appeared to crash-land while on a downwind leg to land on Mathis’ primary runway, runway 18. Winds were strong out of the south on Sunday afternoon. The MQ-9 can stay airborne for 12-20 hours.

From examining the crash landing site, it appears this MQ-9 can possibly be repaired. However, at the crash scene, everyone remained tight-lipped. The UAS is controlled by a pilot sitting in comfortable air conditioning at the Unmanned Aerial System Operations Center (UASOC) on the south end of Mathis Field.

For the inside look at the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) UAS mission in San Angelo, see why San Angelo sits in the catbird's seat for CBP aviation.