Drone Hits British Airways Plane at London Heathrow

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Bill Sherren

Latest reports suggest it might have been a plastic bag! I think we will see a crack down on plastic bags quite soon!

Drone believed to have hit British Airways flight 'may have been a plastic bag'

That's a politician speaking, saying it "MAY have been a plasrtc bag", is him or one of his staff speculating. Wait for the official report, the article says they haven't yet confirmed what hit the aircraft. Light objects do get carried up into the air, so that can be a possiblity.

Appeal following incident with aircraft - Metropolitan Police

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

That's a politician speaking, saying it "MAY have been a plasrtc bag", is him or one of his staff speculating.

Indeed, and it smacks a little of wanting it not to be a drone - because if it was, it's likely to mean a lot of extra work and expense for their department......

If it WASN'T a drone, I'd find a helium balloon a far more likely alternative than a plastic bag. There's been a high pressure system over most of the UK for the last week or so, and not much wind (at least round London) - it was a perfect sunny day last Sunday. I think a flying saucer is actually more likely than a plastic bag at 1,700 feet........

Wait for the official report, .......

And again, indeed. Though in the meantime the pilot's impression (he was there) should be given more weight than speculation from an anonymous politician (who wasn't there)?

[Jim Michael]

As the Earth heats rising columns of air known as thermals can provide upward lift for objects thousands of feet into the air, so it's possible that a plastic bag caught a ride.

It's hard to make things out against the ground clutter when you are at low altitude making "see and avoid" a problem for pilots, so I agree that there seem to be an inordinate number of drone near misses simply because the things should be so hard to see.

At low altitude I would guess the jet should have been doing about 250 knots so if it was a drone seems like there should be a ding on the leading edge of the wing or other surface that was impacted, unless that surface was more parallel than orthogonal to the flight path.

[James Manford]

Published 3 days ago ... The Civil Aviation Authority have drawn up some codes for drone operators to follow.

Drone rules: Everything you need to know to fly domestic drones legally | UK | News | The Independent

"Using drones for professional purposes requires permission from the CAA, and a license granted after completing a training programme"

[Dave Baker]

Seems odd though that they don't specifically mention airports or other aircraft.

Dave

[Brian Drysdale]

The source, rather than a newspaper:

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Mode...Flying-drones/

[Greg Boston]

Just read this article. I think it hits the nail on the head. I wish people would quit fanning the flames of fear and paranoia.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...e-424908/a320/

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