Incident: Unknown

Published Date: 2012-04-25

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident involving the Fire Scout drone malfunction and crash was reported in the article published on 2012-04-25 [11172]. Therefore, the software failure incident with the Fire Scout drone occurred in April 2012.
System 1. MQ-8B Fire Scout drones 2. MQ-8C Fire Scout copters [11172]
Responsible Organization 1. The software failure incident involving the Fire Scout drones was caused by operational mishaps and malfunctions during routine surveillance missions, leading to the grounding of the drones by the Navy [11172].
Impacted Organization 1. The Navy [11172] 2. Manufacturer Northrop Grumman [11172]
Software Causes 1. Unknown
Non-software Causes 1. Malfunction during a routine surveillance mission leading to the inability to land on the U.S.S. Simpson [11172] 2. Crash during a spy mission in northern Afghanistan [11172] 3. Low mission completion rate of Fire Scouts aboard the U.S.S. Halyburton [11172]
Impacts 1. The software failure incident involving the Fire Scout drones led to the grounding of the fleet by the Navy after two operational mishaps, including a malfunction preventing a landing on the U.S.S. Simpson and a crash during a spy mission in Afghanistan [11172]. 2. The incident resulted in the Navy putting the drone helos on an indefinite timeout, indicating a significant operational impact [11172]. 3. The Fire Scouts were reported to have completed only 54 percent of their missions aboard the U.S.S. Halyburton, highlighting a performance impact due to the software failure incident [11172]. 4. The software failure incident prompted the Navy to invest an additional quarter-billion dollars to purchase upgraded MQ-8C Fire Scout copters, indicating a financial impact on the program [11172].
Preventions 1. Implementing thorough software testing procedures before deployment could have potentially prevented the software failure incident [11172]. 2. Conducting regular maintenance and updates on the software to address any potential bugs or faults could have helped prevent the incident [11172]. 3. Enhancing the quality control measures during the manufacturing process of the drones' software could have minimized the chances of operational mishaps [11172].
Fixes 1. Conduct a thorough investigation into the software malfunctions that led to the operational mishaps and crashes of the Fire Scout drones [11172]. 2. Implement necessary software updates or changes based on the findings of the investigation to address the issues causing the failures [11172]. 3. Enhance the testing procedures for the software to ensure that all potential failure scenarios are adequately covered before deployment [11172]. 4. Establish a more robust quality assurance process to prevent similar software failures in the future [11172].
References 1. Navy officials 2. Northrop Grumman spokesperson 3. Pentagon audit 4. Rear Adm. Bill Shannon

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident related to the Fire Scout drones happened again within the same organization, the Navy. The article mentions that the Navy had to ground its fleet of unmanned spy copters due to two unrelated operational mishaps, one of which involved a malfunction preventing a Fire Scout from landing on the U.S.S. Simpson [11172]. (b) The software failure incident related to the Fire Scout drones did not mention similar incidents happening at other organizations.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the articles seems to be more related to the design phase. The article mentions that the Navy grounded its fleet of unmanned spy copters, specifically the MQ-8C Fire Scout copters, after discovering operational mishaps, malfunctions, and crashes during routine surveillance missions and spy missions in Afghanistan [11172]. (b) There is no specific mention of the software failure incident being directly related to the operation phase or misuse of the system in the articles.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident related to the Fire Scout drones appears to be within the system. The article mentions operational mishaps such as a malfunction preventing a Fire Scout from landing on the U.S.S. Simpson and another drone crashing during a spy mission in Afghanistan [11172]. These incidents point to internal issues within the drones themselves, indicating a within-system failure.
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident in the article is related to non-human actions. The failure incidents with the MQ-8C Fire Scout copters were described as "two unrelated operational mishaps" where one copter was unable to land on the U.S.S. Simpson due to a malfunction and another crashed during a spy mission in Afghanistan. The Navy is still investigating what went wrong with these incidents, indicating that the failures were due to factors introduced without human participation [11172].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware, software (a) The software failure incident related to hardware can be seen in the article as the Fire Scout drone was unable to land on the U.S.S. Simpson due to a malfunction following a routine surveillance mission, and another drone crashed during a spy mission in northern Afghanistan. These incidents were described as "two unrelated operational mishaps" [11172]. (b) The software failure incident related to software can be inferred from the article as the Fire Scouts completed a mere 54 percent of their missions aboard the U.S.S. Halyburton, indicating a software-related issue affecting the completion of missions [11172].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The articles do not mention any malicious intent or actions related to the software failure incident involving the Navy's Fire Scout drones. The incidents described, such as the malfunction preventing a landing on the U.S.S. Simpson and a crash during a spy mission in Afghanistan, appear to be non-malicious in nature [11172]. (b) The software failure incidents with the Fire Scout drones are attributed to operational mishaps, malfunctions, and issues with completing missions, as highlighted by the Pentagon audit indicating a low mission completion rate. These failures seem to be non-malicious and more related to technical or operational challenges rather than intentional harm to the system [11172].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The articles do not provide specific information about a software failure incident related to poor decisions or accidental decisions.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The articles do not specifically mention a software failure incident related to development incompetence. (b) The software failure incidents mentioned in the articles were due to accidents or operational mishaps, such as a Fire Scout being unable to land on the U.S.S. Simpson due to a malfunction following a routine surveillance mission and another Fire Scout crashing during a spy mission in northern Afghanistan. These incidents were not attributed to development incompetence but rather described as accidents or mishaps [11172].
Duration temporary The software failure incident related to the Fire Scout drones mentioned in the article is more of a temporary failure rather than a permanent one. The article discusses how the Navy grounded the drones after two operational mishaps, one where a Fire Scout was unable to land on the U.S.S. Simpson due to a malfunction and another where a drone crashed during a spy mission in Afghanistan. The Navy is still investigating what went wrong, indicating that the failure was due to specific circumstances rather than inherent to the software itself [11172].
Behaviour crash (a) crash: The article mentions two operational mishaps related to the Fire Scout drones. One Fire Scout was unable to land on the U.S.S. Simpson due to a malfunction following a routine surveillance mission, and another crashed during a different spy mission in northern Afghanistan. These incidents indicate a crash behavior where the system lost its state and failed to perform its intended functions [11172]. (b) omission: The article does not specifically mention any instances where the system omitted to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). (c) timing: The article does not provide information about the system performing its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. (d) value: The article does not mention any instances where the system performed its intended functions incorrectly. (e) byzantine: The article does not describe the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. (f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident in this case is primarily characterized by crashes, where the system failed to perform its intended functions due to malfunctions and crashes during surveillance missions and spy missions [11172].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence non-human The consequence of the software failure incident described in the article is related to non-human entities. The software failure incident involving the Navy's MQ-8C Fire Scout copters resulted in operational mishaps, malfunctions, and crashes of the drones during surveillance missions in different locations like the U.S.S. Simpson and northern Afghanistan. The article mentions that the Navy grounded the drones and initiated an investigation into the incidents to determine what went wrong [11172].
Domain knowledge, government (a) The failed system was intended to support the defense industry, specifically the Navy's unmanned spy copters program. The article mentions the Navy's use of the drones for surveillance missions in various locations, including Afghanistan, Libya, and Africa, as well as their plans to equip the drones with weapons [Article 11172].

Sources

Back to List