UPDATE: Cause released in aircraft crash north of Grand Forks Air Force Base

GILBY, N.D. (Valley News Live) -

Update 4/26/22: Pilot error has been determined to be the cause of the crash. You can read the full accident investigation report here.

The report reads, in part:

The AIB president found that the cause of the crash was both the pilot’s incorrect selection of aircraft flight commands, which resulted in the aircraft’s controlled flight into terrain, and the instructor pilot’s failure to provide sufficient inputs to the pilot to prevent the aircraft’s controlled flight into terrain.

The aircraft, valued at $64 million, was destroyed.

Original story 8/6/21: Military officials are trying to figure out what caused an aircraft to go down.

It happened at around 7:00 a.m. Friday in a rural field near Gilby, which is north of the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The aircraft was from the Air Force Base and was returning at the time of the accident. It was an unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft, so no one was on board. No injuries were reported.

The fire was extinguished and the incident is under investigation with recovery operations underway.