Gone fishing.
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — A man fishing about 60 miles offshore from Tampa, Fla., on Sunday spotted something unusual: A BQM-167 drone out of Tyndall Air Force Base.
Instead of calling the Coast Guard in Mobile, Ala. — which is what the Air Force recommends when people see such objects in the Gulf — the fisherman towed the drone ashore to Madeira Beach.
The BQM-167 belongs to the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, a tenant unit at Tyndall, and was lost March 10 due to an engine flameout during a routine training exercise, the Air Force said in a news release.
MacDill’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians secured the drone and a team from the 82nd is expected to retrieve it this week, the Air Force said.
