Israeli drone crashes into Mediterranean, fragments recovered (2)

JERUSALEM, Oct. 8 -- An Israel Air Force drone crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, local media reported Tuesday.

"An unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into the sea at noon. Search teams had recovered the fragments," an army spokeswoman confirmed to Xinhua. She declined to provide more details of the incident.

Media reports said the drone crashed some two kilometers off the central coast of Palmahim, which is home to several IAF drone squadrons.

It was not immediately clear whether human error or a technical failure were behind the crash.

The military has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash, the spokeswoman said. She could not confirm whether UAV squadrons at Palmahim had suspended operations pending results of the probe.

The Ha'aretz daily noted on its website that this was the third Israeli drone to crash over the past six months. In July, the military crash landed a drone overflying the Egyptian border after discovering a technical malfunction. Two months earlier, another drone was intentionally crashed into the sea for the same reason.

In both instances, military officials said the decision to down the aircraft was made in order to prevent it from crashing into populated centers, according to Ha'aretz.

Early in 2012, the IAF's flagship Heron TP drone crashed during a test flight. Local media speculated at the time that the aircraft was fitted with excessive payload.