FORT DRUM, N.Y.—An unmanned military drone has crashed into Lake Ontario during a New York Air National Guard training mission.

State military officials said the MQ-9 Reaper had taken off from the airfield at Fort Drum and was operating in approved airspace over the eastern end of the lake when it was lost about 1 p.m. Fort Drum is about 100 kilometres southeast of Kingston, Ont.

The officials said the aircraft was not armed. There have been no reports of injuries.

The drone is used by the Air Guard’s Syracuse-based 174th Attack Wing to train Air Force pilots who use it for surveillance and attack missions around the world.

The U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities were helping Fort Drum emergency crews searching for the Reaper.

The cause of the crash will be investigated.

Technical and pilot errors were blamed for a Reaper crash in Nevada last year.

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