YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Fishing charter catches Air Force attack drone off Florida coast.
Daniel Arsenault, the charter boat captain, told Task & Purpose that the four customers aboard were military search-and-rescue helicopter pilots. Arsenault said their first instinct was to check for anyone who might need help.
The charter captain said they radioed the Coast Guard from about 20 miles southeast of Pensacola Pass but were told the service was already occupied with an active search. That’s when they decided to bring the drone back with them.
Of course, that wasn’t the first thing they did.
Arsenault said they cast around the waterlogged drone, which had attracted smaller fish seeking cover in the open water, and caught mahi-mahi and tripletail before hauling it aboard.
The roughly 10-foot-long drone was partially submerged and filled with water, Arsenault said. Six men aboard the charter held it alongside the boat until the water drained before wrestling it aboard.
Arsenault said the military members aboard opened accessible panels looking for a phone number or other identifying information but found no markings indicating which service owned it. Once they returned to shore, the local sheriff’s department took possession of it. Later that day, Arsenault said someone from the military called him and asked for “their drone back.”
Exit quote: “Arsenault ranked the drone among the five most unusual things he’s recovered from the Gulf.”
Now I really want to know the other four.
