Global Hawk landing at Robins postponed

A history-making flight that had been planned at Robins Air Force Base last week has been postponed.

A Global Hawk was set to make the first ever landing of an unmanned aircraft at the base, and it would also have been the first landing at any Air Force air logistics complex.

The aircraft was originally set to land in the early morning hours of Wednesday, but that was rescheduled for early morning Friday. That landing was also canceled. The Federal Aviation Administration had restricted flying over the area during the planned time of the landing.

Base spokesman Roland Leach said in an email that the landing was canceled due to “technical difficulties.” He said another attempt will be made in a few weeks.

The Global Hawk is a spy plane with a 131-foot wingspan, which is nearly that of a C-130. It can fly at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, gathering high-resolution imagery.

The Robins landing was meant to be a test with plans for more Global Hawks to come to the base for repairs and maintenance.

This story was originally published May 14, 2017 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Global Hawk landing at Robins postponed."