Staff
(via AP/Blaze) Police say a British Airways flight from Geneva hit an object believed to be a drone while on approach to London’s Heathrow Airport.
The airline says the plane landed safely Sunday afternoon and has been cleared for its next flight. The Airbus A320 was carrying 132 passengers and five crew members.
No arrests have been made and police are investigating the incident.
Drone collides with British Airways flight as it approaches London’s Heathrow Airport https://t.co/a8y06BQrEJ pic.twitter.com/fY8lO2ECgd
— Israel News Flash (@ILNewsFlash) April 17, 2016
Aviation authorities have expressed concern about the risk posed by the increasing number of drones. A December study carried out by experts from Bard College’s Center for the Study of the Drone reviewed 921 cases that involved drones and manned aircraft between 2013 and 2015. That study concluded that more than one-third of those cases studied involved the drones and and the aircraft coming within 500 feet of each other, according to CNN.
“Our findings indicate that incidents largely occur in areas where manned air traffic density is high and where drone use is prohibited,” the experts said in a statement, CNN reported.
The airline says the plane landed safely Sunday afternoon and has been cleared for its next flight. The Airbus A320 was carrying 132 passengers and five crew members.
No arrests have been made and police are investigating the incident.