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It Was Only a Matter of Time: Passenger Plane Collides with a Drone in London

Nobody really knew what would happen if a drone hit a passenger airplane, but it was believed to be better if we never found out. However, since a collision with a bird can cause major concerns during the delicate landing and take-off processes, there is no reason to imagine a drone would pose less of a threat.
British Airways Airbus airplane 1 photo
Photo: Eluveitie via wikimedia.org
As a consequence, flying drones around airports has been prohibited, and every measure necessary to prevent this from happening has been taken. And yet, we all knew that, sooner or later, one of these flying objects would find its way into the path of a commercial aircraft, possibly endangering the lives of hundreds of people.

This is exactly what happened on Sunday at 12:50 pm when a British Airways flight was reported to have made contact with a drone as it was approaching for landing. The Airbus A320 was returning to London from Geneva, Switzerland, carrying 132 passengers and five crew members. After landing safely, the pilot reported the collision between the plane's front end and an object he thought was a drone.

The matter is currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police, but no arrests have been made so far. If the pilot's version proves to be right, this would be the first ever recorded incident of a commercial plane hitting a civilian drone. A spokesman for British Airlines is quoted by the BBC as saying, "Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight."

Just because nothing happened this time doesn't mean that any other potential future collisions of the same nature couldn't have a lot more tragic consequences. The authorities should view this as a reminder of just how serious this problem is, and they should find ways to prevent such incidents from happening. Otherwise, the next plane and its occupants might not be as lucky as British Airways' Flight 727 from Geneva to London.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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