An aircraft approaching Heathrow Airport has been hit a drone before it landed safely, the Metropolitan Police have said.
The British Airways A320 from Geneva was hit as it approached the London airport at about 12:50 BST with 132 passengers and five crew on board.
A British Airways spokesperson said:
“Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight. Safety and security are always our first priority and we will give the police every assistance with their investigation.”
A report was made to police but the drone operator was not traced.
Absolute retards flying drones near a airport!!!!!
There are actually rules regarding areas and zones where you can fly drones from the Civil Aviation Authority.
https://www.caa.co.uk/drones/
Aside from lack of pure common sense it shows ignorance towards these rules which are covered by law.
I myself fly drones and for the sake of those who follow the rules and the law flying drones and more importantly the passengers of the aircraft, the perpetrators should be punished harshly because as Daniel Adams points out above, its just a matter of time…
Thankfully nothing serious happened.
Was only a matter of time.
Drone pilot should be done for endangering an aircraft and occupants.
Good luck finding them.
I find this shocking…21st century Britain… terrorism threat at an all time high yet you can buy a drone aircraft and fly them around a major airport. Zero tolerance required here as Mr terrorist could soon use these things to their advantage.
Someone filming the planes no doubt, they’re going to ruin it for everyone.
They won’t be filming planes no more with just pices of plastic
I have a drone and live near an airport but fs what kind of clown actually endangers an aircraft?
Drones are getting out of control …. and thanks to morons like these, responsible operators are going to be punished.
Time for drone registration.
No news report I’ve read say whether they recovered any drone wreckage. That might have fingerprint or DNA evidence on it so I hope so otherwise it’s going to be hard to catch these idiots. Difficult even with that evidence if the perpetrators aren’t already known to the police.
£5 on a RubberNeck with a new toy!
It’s not possible to put the genie back into the bottle and uninvent them and registration etc won’t make the problem go away. As they get bigger and more mainstream, its only a matter of time before something bad happens. However, I suspect in this case there was no threat to the plane, since most drones are not heavy enough or stable enough to hit a plane with enough force to take it down, unless it gets unlucky and gets into the engines and then most plans can safely land on 1 engine. I am guessing there will be a… Read more »
Just to confirm… The perpetrators were breaking the law regarding flying drones near an airport. https://www.caa.co.uk/drones/ Drones are not the problem. It’s those who choose to fly them in/around areas off limits that are. There are plenty of safe places to fly drones and there are guidelines governing their use. You could argue drones have been around a long time, R/C Airplanes and Helicopters for example, and yes, they too have been subject to similar incidents in the past… But add the word ‘DRONE’ into any press and its instant met with hostilities. I don’t blame those that do a… Read more »