AV News: Drones Collide with Airplanes?

Did a drone collide with an airplane on its landing approach in London last weekend? There has been no wreckage found of a drone and little other evidence aside from the pilot speculating that the UFO which hit the plane was a drone. Or was it a plastic bag? The odds are in favor of the plastic bag according to some studies... -------- As more drones enter the airspace, some people worry they may interfere with the flight path of airplanes. But as one recent study shows, that simply hasn’t been the case. RESEARCHERS FROM GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY CLAIM THE CHANCES OF A DRONE COLLIDING WITH A PLANE ARE VERY RARE. THE STUDY ESTIMATES A COLLISION CAUSING DAMAGE TO AN AIRCRAFT WILL OCCUR EVERY 1.87 MILLION YEARS OF OPERATION. ADDITIONALLY, THE GEORGE MASON STUDY FOUND THAT AN ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A DRONE AND PLANE THAT RESULTS IN INJURY OR DEATH WILL HAPPEN JUST ONCE EVERY 187 MILLION YEARS OF OPERATION. THAT NUMBER IS MUCH MORE FREQUENT THAN THE NUMBER OF COLLISIONS AIRPLANES ENCOUNTER WITH BIRDS. SINCE 1990, THE STUDY FOUND THAT 389 PEOPLE HAD BEEN INJURED WHEN A PLANE COLLIDED WITH A BIRD. THE MOST NOTABLE SUCH INSTANCE WAS IN 2009 WHEN A U.S. AIRWAYS JET WAS FORCED TO LAND IN THE HUDSON RIVER AFTER A FLOCK OF CANADIAN GEESE STRUCK THE PLANE’S ENGINE. THE GEESE IN THAT FLOCK WEIGH ROUGHLY 18 POUNDS EACH, WHILE THE TYPICAL HOBBYIST DRONE WEIGHS AROUND 4.5 POUNDS. AS DRONE TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO EVOLVE WITH FEATURES SUCH AS GEOFENCING AND AIRSPACE AWARENESS, SAFETY CONCERNING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN DRONES AND AIRPLANES WILL SURELY CONTINUE TO BE ADDRESSED.