Previous post : http://www.iconaerialmedia.com/2016/04/17/drone-crashes-into-british-airways-passenger-jet-as-it-comes-in-to-land-at-heathrow-airport/
Editor’s note: I thought this was suspect originally.
-mecicon
The drone that reportedly hit a British Airways jet earlier this week may have actually been a plastic bag, a minister has said.
Transport minister Robert Goodwill admitted authorities had not yet confirmed whether what struck the Airbus A320 was a remote-controlled device.
The collision on Sunday night is believed to have been at around 1,700 ft near Richmond Park in south west London, over four times higher than the legal height limit.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is investigating, alongside the Metropolitan Police.
But following his comments today, Mr Goodwill also dismissed calls for tighter rules on drone use to protect against terror threats insisting current rules governing drone use were strong enough.
He said it would be much easier for terrorists to attack airports on the ground with rucksacks or car bombs than orchestrate the attack from a drone aircraft.
Mr Goodwill was also sceptical about calls to force all manufacturers to install GPS coordinates that would prevent drones flying in restricted areas – known as “geo-fencing”.
He warned that any moves to enforce geo-fencing rules would be vulnerable to being hacked by “somebody who could get round that software”.
Mr Goodwill said: “The reported drone strike on Sunday has not been confirmed it was actually a drone. It was the local police force that tweeted that they had a report of a drone striking an aircraft.
“And indeed the early reports of a dent in the front of the plane were not confirmed – there was no actual damage to the plane and there’s indeed some speculation that it may have even been a plastic bag or something.
“I’ve not actually landed a 747 at Heathrow but I’ve landed the simulator and the pilot has a lot of other things to concentrate on so we’re not quite sure what they saw so I think we should maybe not overreact too much.”
Asked what the Government could do to tighten the rules on drone use, Mr Goodwill said: “There are already existing laws in place that require the user of drones to maintain direct unaided visual contact with their vehicle and not to recklessly or negligently permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property.
“So this instance that we’ve read about and is alleged were already breaking existing legislation and the Department [of Transport] and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are working with a wide range of industry partners across the sector, including manufacturers, airports and airlines to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircrafts remains up-to-date.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/21/drone-believed-to-have-hit-british-airways-flight-may-have-been/
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