#Drone struck #BritishAirways plane as it landed at #Heathrow airport #London…

Posted on April 17, 2016 by weehingthong

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18 April 2016

Retweeted 16 times
3h3 hours ago

Police investigate after BA pilot claims his plane was struck by a drone at Heathrow

 

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31m31 minutes ago

plane struck by as it tries to land at

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A passenger jet was hit by a drone above London yesterday, sparking major concerns over air safety.

The front of a British Airways jet, carrying 132 passengers and five crew, was struck in what is believed to be the first time a drone has hit a commercial plane in British airspace.

The Airbus A320 from Geneva was minutes away from landing at Heathrow when it was hit. The aircraft landed safely.

Metropolitan Police detectives are investigating the strike, which follows a string of near misses in recent months.

Pilots warn that drones – which are too small to appear on air traffic control radar screens – could destroy an airliner’s engine or smash a cockpit windscreen.

Engineers also say a drone’s lithium battery could catch fire if it hit the nose or other softer parts of an aircraft and became embedded.

 

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THE ‘DRONECODE’: RULES SET OUT BY AVIATION AUTHORITY ON DRONES

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sets the rules on the flying of drones under what is called an ‘air navigation order’.

The authority states a drone should never be flown near an airport or close to an aircraft, adding that it is a criminal offence ‘to endanger the safety of an aircraft in flight’.

Flying a drone near an airport could lead to a five-year prison sentence under current laws.

The rules set out by the CAA’s air navigation order state: 

  • An unmanned aircraft must never be flown beyond the normal unaided ‘line of sight’ of the person operating it – this is generally measured as 1,640ft horizontally or 400ft vertically
  • An unmanned aircraft fitted with a camera must always be flown at least 164ft distance away from a person, vehicle, building or structure
  • An unmanned aircraft fitted with a camera must not be flown within 492ft of a congested area or large group of people, such as a sporting event or concert
  • For commercial purposes, operators must have permission to fly a drone from the CAA

 

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