U.S. Navy MQ-4C Drone Issues Emergency Signal Near Crimea, Safely Lands in Sicily

A U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton drone engaged in reconnaissance operations near Crimea issued an emergency signal before safely landing at NATO's Sigonella naval base in Sicily.

This is according to monitoring data from RadarBox.

The incident unfolded on Friday afternoon as the MQ-4C, with the call sign BLKCAT6, conducted a reconnaissance flight over the Black Sea near Crimea. RadarBox, a monitoring resource, recorded the drone's emergency signal as it approached Italy for landing.

The emergency signal, denoted by code 7700 in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, indicates an onboard emergency situation. Despite the alert, the MQ-4C landed at the Sigonella naval base around 19:00 Moscow time.

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Specialized monitoring bots like Flight Emergency Alerts and SquawkAlert also corroborated the emergency signal reported by RadarBox on social media platforms.

Under ICAO regulations, the standard emergency codes include 7700 for primary emergencies, 7600 for communication failures, and 7500 for aircraft hijackings.

The MQ-4C Triton, a long-range reconnaissance UAV developed for the U.S. Navy, is based on the RQ-4 Global Hawk strategic drone platform. Its missions typically involve maritime surveillance, intelligence gathering, and reconnaissance operations in strategic regions like the Black Sea.