Jet Strikes Drone Near Heathrow Airport (marketwatch.com)

smooth wombat writes: "A British Airways flight Sunday appears to have collided with a drone on a flight bound for London's busy Heathrow Airport in what may be the first such incident involving a major airline," according to MarketWatch. "The flight from Geneva, Switzerland to Heathrow, Europe's busiest hub, is believed to have struck a drone, the London Metropolitan Police said in a statement. The plane landed safely following the incident, which occurred around 12:50 p.m. local time. 'It was only a matter of time before we had a drone strike given the huge numbers being flown around by amateurs who don't understand the risks and the rules,' said BALPA flight safety specialist Steve Landells... 'Much more education of drone users and enforcement of the rules is needed to ensure our skies remain safe from this threat'."

Comments

Isn't that illegal ?

[bugs2squash]

If shooting them down is illegal then running them down with a 747 has to be illegal too.

Re: regulation

[Anonymous Coward]

Only LUDDITES use chickens without LiPo batteries.

A new cult: Drone Danger Denial

[Required Snark]

Just like other conspiracy cults before them, say flat earthers, anit-vaxxers, birthers, 9/11 conspiracy nutjobs, and UFO creeps, Slashdot is now home to the DDD: Drone Danger Denial cult.

1) The first rule of DDD: drones cannot cause any problem ever in any situation.

2) The second rule of DDD: always defend drones as harmless no matter what the circumstance. For example if firefighters call off aerial retardant drops because drones are flying in the fire zone: the missed drops didn't make any difference and/or drones didn't pose any interference and the authorities should have just kept flying.

In the current post three of the major denial themes are stated.

1) It wasn't a drone.

2) If there was a drone, nothing happened.

3) If there was a drone interaction, there was no actual damage.

It's so simple even the dullest of Slashdot Pundits can execute it with ease.

BTW, I've actually participated in a project with the FAA addressing bird strike mitigation. They take any physical impact on a aircraft very seriously. It's not just birds, but any strike by FOD (Foreign Object Debris). That includes anything on a runway, like trash. At DFW airport in Texas, they have a problem with foxes who live in the airport and are stuck by aircraft. They collect and monitor the corpses, and have a burial location for their bodies. The FAA has records of rodent strikes, when their carcasses are found on runways. Anything hitting a aircraft is considered very significant. Saying that it's not important is just a pledge of allegiance to the DDD. A true blue cult member.