SANTA CLARITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : Experimental Plane Damaged in Edwards Test Flight

A $1.5-million experimental pilotless plane, one of only two of its kind, started to break apart during a test flight 33,000 feet over the Antelope Valley on Tuesday afternoon and dropped to the ground by parachute--perhaps damaged beyond repair, a NASA spokesman said.

The Perseus, a remote-controlled plane designed to conduct atmospheric tests at altitudes between 80,000 and 90,000 feet, was in the midst of a test run over Edwards Air Force Base when it began to behave erratically, said NASA spokesman Don Haley.

The plane, piloted by radio signals from operators on the ground, twisted out of control and suffered damage from “aerodynamic forces” before parachutes on the craft were deployed. It came to earth in a remote desert area at the eastern end of the base, Haley said.

An investigative board will be formed to study the malfunction, Haley said.

NASA authorities were uncertain of the extent of damage to the plane, which had not yet been retrieved Tuesday night, but it may be irreparable, Haley said.

There were no injuries and no property was damaged on the ground, Haley said.

The Perseus, which is 26 feet long with a 59-foot wingspan, first flew at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in December of 1993. The planes were designed to be used in the no-man’s land of the upper atmosphere, in areas between those studied by manned aircraft flights and space probes.

“You could equate it to an enormous model airplane” with NASA as the remote operator, Haley said. The two planes, still in the development phase, have flown as high as 50,000 feet.

Several more development flights were required before they would become fully operational.

The Perseus that crashed was on its 16th flight; its sister plane has made five flights. Haley said there have been no previous difficulties. The Perseus program to date has cost around $7 million, Haley said.

The plane was cruising at 36,000 feet and was scheduled to climb higher when NASA officials canceled the flight Tuesday, fearing strong winds. The plane began to glide back to the base, but went out of control at 33,000 feet.

Haley doubted the malfunction would send NASA back to the drawing board. “You have to look at this as just a development program,” he said, “and development programs do, from time to time, have little hiccups that need to be ironed out before you move ahead.”