ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) — A bald eagle launched an aerial assault on a drone operated by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy — which is known as EGLE — ripping off a propeller and sending the aircraft into Lake Michigan.
The department says the attack happened July 21, when the drone was mapping shoreline erosion near Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Drone pilot Hunter King says he had completed about seven minutes of the mapping flight when satellite reception became spotty and the drone began to twirl. King and two birdwatchers saw the eagle flying away, apparently unhurt.
Tracking data indicates the drone landed in the lake, about 150 feet offshore. It has not been found.
