What airlines, officials and passengers have feared has happened, though fortunately this time without serious consequences: An inbound British Airways flight was struck by a drone during its approach to Heathrow Airport Sunday night (Apr 17).
The flight from Geneva, ironically an A320 on Flight 727, landed safely and was permitted to continue flying after an inspection.
The growing popularity of drones as toys and camera platforms has made such incidents inevitable, despite rules that require drones to be within sight of the flier at all times, and to stay under 400 feet. The rules are difficult to enforce, and many drones pre-date any registration rules. British newspapers report that the number of near-misses has quadrupled in the past year.
The problem has been growing in the US as well, with many reports of near misses at major airports. For more on this incident from The Telegraph (UK) click HERE
Photo: Drone’s-eye view of near-collision with German airliner (ATFSCrash/YouTube)
