A United Airlines flight on its landing approach hit a drone hovering near the San Diego International Airport.
The Boeing 737 jumbo jet was 3,000 feet in the air and preparing to land at the San Diego airport when the plane struck the drone on Wednesday.
“United Flight 1980 reported a possible drone strike just prior to arriving in San Diego. The flight landed safely, and customers deplaned normally at the gate. Our maintenance team found no damage after thoroughly inspecting the aircraft,” the company said in a statement.
The plane, which had departed from San Francisco early on Wednesday morning, was carrying 48 passengers and 6 crew members.
In a recorded conversation between the flight crew and air traffic controllers, the crew reports the strike and notes that the drone was very small.
“It was so small, I couldn’t tell,” a United crew member says, according to audio released by the social media account theATCapp. “It was red. It was shiny. I couldn’t tell with it.”
Chris Mullooly, an FAA spokesperson, told NBC 7 that the agency is investigating the incident.
Drones are illegal to fly over or even in the vicinity of airports. FAA regulations prohibit the use of drones above 400 feet without authorization from the FAA – the drone in question was hit at around 3,000 feet — and they cannot be flown at any time in any restricted airspace, which includes airports.
In March, a drone was confiscated from a man in Charlotte after he allegedly flew it too close to the Charlotte Douglas Airport Overlook.
The drone pilot was flying the craft to capture video for a client’s social media post, according to WSOC.
Federal marshals were notified about the drone’s presence and tracked it back to the pilot. They then confiscated the drone.
The vehicle was airborne for seven minutes and was flying between 32 and 100 feet off the ground while the airport’s runways were in use.
Law enforcement said the operator did not have permission to fly within the restricted airspace.
