Investigation launched over possible UAV/airplane collision
On Monday, April 18, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was reported to have struck a British Airways Airbus as it descended into London’s Heathrow Airport, reports BBC News.
The collision has renewed calls from the Air Line Pilots Association for stricter regulation in the U.S., where more than 150 airliners reported close sightings of drones in the last 18 months, including eight in the last two weeks of January. A drone collision could disable an aircraft if the metal frame and battery of a drone come in contact with an airliner’s engine.
Authorities in Britain are investigating the incident, and trying to determine who might have been behind it.
British Airways Flight BA727 from Geneva was approaching Heathrow on Sunday afternoon when what the pilot believed to be a drone struck the front of the aircraft, London Metropolitan Police said. The plane was 1,700 feet in the air at the time.
The Airbus A320 landed safely, with none of the 132 passengers and five crew members on board injured, British Airways spokesman Michael Johnson said. The plane was fine, and continued with service.
A drone at 1700 feet was clearly in violation of the maximum 500 foot altitude rule by a margin not attributable to instrument error. So shooting it down with a laser defense weapon would have been very appropriate.
But if the plane hit it and sus6tained no apparent damage then perhaps the threat may be slightly overstated. Possibly.