A JetBlue pilot reported Monday that his plane was struck by a drone as he came in for a landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The plane landed safely, without notable damage, but is it too much to ask our aviation authorities to better protect air traffic from rogue drone operators?
It may be only a matter of time before a drone strike is more serious and causes a deadly accident. The risk of bird strikes is already high, and there’s no excuse for man-made drone accidents that make flying less safe.
The pilot of JetBlue Flight 948 says the Airbus A321 was struck at about 3,000 feet on its final approach to land. “It hit us right, uh, right above the cockpit,” the pilot told air-traffic control, according to the Journal.
JetBlue says it took the plane out of service for inspections. Drones can’t fly near airports, but the Federal Aviation Administration receives about 100 reports of sightings a month. A United Airlines plane nearly collided with a drone last week as it came in for a landing at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The FAA is investigating the incidents, and these are cases where violators should be prosecuted and punished. As everyone knows, it’s riskier to life and limb to drive a car than to fly in a passenger airline.
But it may be only a matter of time before a drone strike is more serious and causes a deadly accident. The risk of bird strikes is already high, and there’s no excuse for man-made drone accidents that make flying less safe.
