Islami said the rotor blade snapped off, the copter spun to the ground and burst into flames.

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It's been a few years since news of Prox Dynamics' Black Hornet mini-copter has swung our way.

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They determined that it was and began to kick around the idea of actually building a copter to prove it.

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The copter crashed into a pasture in mere seconds, killing Freudenberg, the patient he was transporting, and two medical personnel.

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The copter would then hover over the house, and James and the remaining six SEALs would shimmy down to the roof.

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The learning curve on operating the drone was steep, and Mr. Goodwin says he has crashed the carbon-fiber copter a few times.

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But more importantly, this virtual traffic copter can also keep an eye out for network issues that are more troublesome, like unauthorized users and outside attackers.

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Not content with smashing the previous craft's record of 11.4 seconds, the team plans to fly a further refined version of the copter with longer blades and other fine tuning later this month.

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The copter has a long history in Afghanistan.

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