Was it a drone? British airways flight

[discobrother]

In saying that.... I'm flying to Tenerife next week so no flying near TFS you crazy Mo Fos. I'm too young to join Prince and Bowie

 

[dgd3]

British Airways flight struck by suspected drone as it positioned to land at Heathrow Airport

Note how "drone" in the news is often portrayed as a DJI Phantom, even if another brand or unidentifiable.

 

[Tony Cowan]

If it does turn out that it was a drone strike, I got $20 that says I know who the drone pilot was, and that the drone was a P4.

Wow bro. That is pure speculation. But I do know who you are talking about.

 

[Prometheus_Xex]

It could have been a weather balloon or maybe even swamp gas.

Those are usually UFOs. LOL

 

[Paul UK]

Everyone wants to fly safe both as an airline passenger and as a UAV pilot. All countries need to regulate use of drones to ensure all involved are as safe as possible. If a bird strike can down a plane, its possible that a drone can to. Drones are there to have fun, but lets be safe too. Only irresponsible people fly unauthorised near airports and if they get caught, should face the consequences. Happy flying...

 

[Sailorman]

I would suspect this as bird strike. First of all, birds don't always have a big brain (If you know what I mean). Secondly, it's very common for birds to be minding their own business by the airport, and usually it's pretty hard to get them away unless you have trained Hawks. And I agree that a phantom going through a jet that's spinning at 10,000 RPM with (I would imagine) Military grade steel, I would expect it to do nothing.

 

[Zigs]

It looks to me like DJI has developed a new process that turns a Phantom into a plastic bag after hitting an object at 200 mph.

-- zigs

 

[Wheatfield]

It looks to me like DJI has developed a new process that turns a Phantom into a plastic bag after hitting an object at 200 mph.

-- zigs

Amazing technology they are putting into their machines.
I wonder if they aren't using recycled poly bags as the shell plastic and the impact of the airliner undid all that.
Note to those who think this is a serious post, there is a deep sarchasm between us.

 

[43k]

Was it any of these drones?

 

[Don Wilson]

What a bunch of BS!! There is FAR more worries with bird strikes (ie; plane into the Hudson) than any drone. This was just an over-reaction to try and blame the drone world. Where exactly did the "drone" come from?

However, they are right about terrorist loading some plastic explosive on a drone and flying it into a plane ... then driving away. There are ENDLESS ways for terrorists to kill us, especially when they do not care about dying. The Japanese started this crap by flying airplanes into our carriers. STOP the terrorist where they come from, not here with the individual results.

 

[Melvoid]

Well crap! I just turned 50 and haven't found a hobby that interested me in many years until I looked into quads. Just after buying my P3P, new rules come out, NFZs and bad media jumping on every negative UAV story they can find. This no doubt is affecting my ability to enjoy my new bird.

Drone or not, this news story sux and will probably have negative consequences for all quad enthusiast.

Please fly safe!


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

My situation exactly. I finally decide to drop the big bucks on a toy, and what happens? The one I picked is the one everybody hates. Although, I must say, when I'm out playing with it in public, most people are interested more than irate... at least I got that going for me, which is nice.

 

[Bluesmaster]

My situation exactly. I finally decide to drop the big bucks on a toy, and what happens? The one I picked is the one everybody hates. Although, I must say, when I'm out playing with it in public, most people are interested more than irate... at least I got that going for me, which is nice.

I find the same thing around here. Mostly people are very interested and nice to talk with when they see me flying. The cops and firefighters are always stopping to watch and ask lots of questions. The occasional idiot and one particular neighbor can make things unpleasant at times...

 

[Matt Elyash]

Flying near airports... Anyone who does this needs their drone taking away and should face the consequences for their actions.

Safe drone pilots will suffer in the long run.

UK will not put up with this, it wont be long before they take action to prevent this from happening in the future.

you cant regulate stupid, trust me. There were 11,000 wildlife strikes in 2013, in the United States at 615 different airports. NONE resulted in a media frenzy. the FAA says in excess of 142,000 wildlife strikes since they started keeping track officially in 1990. This is a thin excuse by the airlines and their pilots to try and crush this industry before it starts. Now Boeing.... General Dynamics, General Atomic, Schribel, IAI, let them fly!!!

 

[kenjuen]

So it may have been a plastic bag. Because of all the media hype I am sure a lot of pilots are hypersensitive to the drone scare. I suspected this story from day 1 because there was absolutely no damage to the aircraft. Score one for the lamestream media.

 

[ironwolfjt]

Before everyone gets too worked up over this... does everyone remember the recent story of a helicopter that was sure they had hit a drone that shattered the canopy. As it turns out it was a bird strike, not a drone. So let the authorities do their investigation before you make your conclusions.

And please... DO NOT let this thread turn into another fight-fest or we will shut it down and pass out warnings to the offenders.

I agree...lets wait and see what the investigation turns up.

 

[RocketBrew]

This was posted by a member of a local Multirotor group.
Photo of him flying his new drone.

 

[Clipper707]

Note how "drone" in the news is often portrayed as a DJI Phantom, even if another brand or unidentifiable.

With something like 70% market share, it's not unreasonable to have a stock photo of a Phantom; it's truly representative of the hobby.

 

[pinchers]

If your driving your car and you crash into another vehicle and it turns out it's your fault then the authorities will punish you and rightly so, they won't ban all people from driving cars, If it turns out to be a drone strike hopefully the offender will be found and punished accordingly but do not punish the rest of us.

 

[Big_A]

Daily Telegraph, first reported that The Pilot says "he hit a white object possibly a drone, no damage was was caused."
Later in the week the same paper reported " Pilot says it was possibly a plastic bag". Good to see some papers keep this in context.
The rest of us have to remain squeaky clean before some MP gets up on its hind legs to create restrictive laws based on the recent hysteria created.
In no reports by the press or TV did I see the words Geofencing mentioned.

 

[pinchers]

I did not see the the later report Big A, good things never or rarely make the news.