Boeing 737 Passenger Jet Damaged in Possible Midair Drone Hit (bloomberg.com)

Grupo Aeromexico SAB is investigating whether a drone slammed into a Boeing Co. 737 jetliner as the aircraft approached its destination in Tijuana, Mexico, on the U.S. border. From a report: Images on local media showed considerable damage to the nose of the 737-800, which was operating Wednesday as Flight 773 from Guadalajara. In a cabin recording, crew members can be heard saying they heard a "pretty loud bang" and asking the control tower to check if the nose was damaged. The collision happened shortly before landing. "The exact cause is still being investigated," Aeromexico said in a statement. "The aircraft landed normally and the passengers' safety was never compromised."

The potential drone strike stoked fears that the rising use of uncrewed aircraft will endanger planes filled with passengers. While most nations prohibit drones from flying in pathways reserved for airliners, the millions of small consumer devices that have been purchased around the world can't be tracked on radar, making it difficult for authorities to enforce the rules. In addition, many users don't know the rules or don't follow them.

Comments

Re:Solution

[TWX]

5kg isn't really a problem.

Drones capable of doing work weigh considerably more than 5kg. You're looking at a mass more like 50kg, possibly quite a bit more:

Drone Weight Article

Realistically you're not going to armor the front of a jetliner to withstand a strike against something as heavy as a person at eighty meters per second.

Or a goose

[sjames]

The last drone panic with startling pictures of the damage turned out to be a goose. Of course, "oops, it was a goose" didn't make the big headlines. That was strictly back page news.

Of course, our only source is Bloomberg, so it might have been a secret Chinese spy goose.