Sheriff’s Office drone takes dive, gets lost in Lake Conroe

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Melvin Franklin controls the gyroscopic camera on the Vanguard Defense Industries Shadowhawk UAV purchased by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office following a press conference in March. less Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Melvin Franklin controls the gyroscopic camera on the Vanguard Defense Industries Shadowhawk UAV purchased by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office following a press ... more Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sheriff’s Office drone takes dive, gets lost in Lake Conroe 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

LAKE CONROE - Divers spent the majority of Friday afternoon searching for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office half-million-dollar drone that crashed into Lake Conroe.

Operators of the unmanned aerial vehicle were out on Lake Conroe conducting exercises with the drone when it “malfunctioned,” according to MCSO Public Information Officer Brady Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald said it had not been determined what caused the drone to crash into the lake. The Sheriff’s Office also declined to specify where the Shadowhawk, designed and manufactured by Vanguard Defense Industries in Spring, entered the water for fear members of the public might launch their own search missions.

Divers with the Precinct 1 Constable’s Lake Patrol joined in the recovery effort Friday, not long after the remote-controlled helicopter disappeared in Lake Conroe. Lt. Tim Cade, of the Lake Conroe Dive Team, referred all questions regarding the recovery effort to the MCSO.

The MCSO purchased the Shadowhawk for approximately $500,000 in October 2011. MCSO’S version was funded by Department of Homeland Security grants. The Shadowhawk contains powerful video and thermal imaging surveillance equipment.

The Shadowhawk weighs 29 pounds, is 92 inches long and almost 30 inches in height.

This isn’t the first time the Sheriff’s drone has gone awry. In March o2012, it was 15 feet off the ground when the helicopter started to oscillate.

The aircraft’s rotor blades clipped a nearby SWAT truck, inflicting damage before crashing.