Civilian border watch group launches mini-spy plane
TUCSON - A civilian border watch group has done its first test flight of a miniature airplane that could be used to spy on undocumented immigrants.
The American Border Patrol's plane found and followed a group of people walking along the San Pedro River within minutes of takeoff for its first flight Wednesday. In this case, the targets were volunteers, not the immigrants the volunteer group plans to monitor in the future.
The Sierra Vista-based group uses equipment including video cameras, computers and a portable satellite uplink to monitor movement near the border. The information is then reported to the U.S. Border Patrol.
The development of the radio-controlled prototype, known as Border Hawk, has cost the group about $5,000 so far. The plane is an off-the-shelf model airplane about 3 feet long, with a 6-foot wingspan, modified with a camera and other equipment.
The plane will fly in a search pattern at locations that will be identified by remote, motion-triggered sensors.
Global positioning system equipment on the plane will relay the GPS coordinates of anyone it locates to the operator, who will pass them on to the U.S. Border Patrol, said Glenn Spencer of the civilian group.
Live images shot from the plane will also be broadcast on the group's Internet site. The GPS coordinates will not be posted, however, Spencer said. "We don't want these militia types to use that information to harm any of these people," he said.
U.S. Border Patrol officials in Tucson declined to comment on the border watch group or its use of an unmanned aircraft.
The U.S. Border Patrol currently uses manned planes and helicopters for border surveillance.