Student Is Sent $350,000 Government Drone

Student Is Sent $350,000 Government Drone
Part of an unmanned aircraft used by the US government to monitor wildlife is wrongly delivered to a college student.

A college student was left baffled after he was accidentally sent part of a $350,000 (£206,000) government drone.

He received the environment and wildlife monitoring Puma drone pieces - owned by the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – on Monday.

Photographs posted to reddit by the user - known as Seventy_Seven - showed a large box filled with neatly packaged drone pieces, including what looks like a control panel.

The student said he called delivery firm UPS, which said the package was his and it was up to him whether to keep it.

Since then he has contacted the NOAA, who are now trying to organise a collection.

He wrote: "They were happy I reached out to them, and now know where their missing shipment went.

"After describing what happened, he seemed pretty content about it."

David Miller, an NOAA spokesman, told the Motherboard website: "We sent one of our Puma unmanned aircraft systems to Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts.

"We sent a set of about eight boxes for this one aircraft system, and one was misdelivered by UPS."

The package was sent from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in plain packaging, addressed to the student.

The drone has a range of around eight miles and can fly for about two hours at a time.

The completed drone will be used to monitor the sanctuary's environment.

Mr Miller added: "We're just wanting to get that missing package to the sanctuary so we can start flying the mission."

http://news.sky.com/story/1256120/student-is-sent-350000-government-drone


Could have put it on EBay