The unconfirmed report is that a “company survey” aircraft impacted a small UAS at 2,500 feet near Lewis University (KLOT) on August 27, 2015 causing damage to the leading edge of the manned aircraft wing.
More as we get it but this is what we know
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Comments
Well, again and I am sorry I can't mention names but we had an email and it mentioned the word BIRD. I get what you are saying paddles, this has been talked up in manned aviation forums and it will be interesting to see how they talk it down now, if BIRD becomes the outcome of the investigation.
Thanks for the update Gary. I'm glad this wasn't just you making the connection to drone.
HOWEVER, my opinion is one person at an insurance company saying "hey maybe it was drone" doesn't warrant this kind of reporting. With zero substantiation other than one person's personal opinion, this is no different than going full court press on one person claiming an alien from Mars hit the plane. Are we going to run stories here every time someone sees a bird fly over their house and says "hey I wonder if that may have been a drone rather than a crow?" Hopefully what I'm trying to convey here makes sense. I'm not trying to be jerk. I just think this is writing news about nothing, and that news hurts more than it helps.'
On a related note, I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come. Every time someone bangs up their plane due to poor ground handling, they're going to claim it was a drone collision at 2500ft....
Sorry I have not been back to this thread until now. It an insurance company that sent me the images, they thought thats what it was. I added alleged. Lets see what the report brings, it looks like either a prop strike or hanger rash. No big TV exposes so I guess whoever it happened to is keeping it under wraps. They hit something somewhere.
So I guess Gary isn't going to respond to these rather critical questions about the nature of this "report"? He's posted other blogs and comments since I asked these questions. Silence speaks volumes, and I've come to expect better from him and sUAS News. This is not like Gary, and it is poor reflection of this community.
All we do here all day is talk about how to beat the media driven hysteria over evil drones wreaking havoc. And a click-bait buzzfeed-esque "report" like this comes out of our front door?? Really??
Hitting the leading edge of the tail directly with a truck would be pretty difficult without also hitting everything else on the plane. However, a GPU trailer, preheat trailer, or another aircraft being positioned with a tug around this one could certainly do that. Getting dinged up on the ground is also statistically far more likely than a midair drone collision.
What are the chances that somebody backed a truck into it on the ground and cried "Drone Strike!" to cover their hiney?
I don't think it was a bird either. I've seen plenty of them. Even if they cleaned off the guts, the damage pattern just doesn't seem right. I wouldn't rule out and say there is no way that is a bird, but it doesn't look like it in this photo.
Any piece of FOD kicked up on the runway during takeoff or landing could do that, with takeoff more likely than landing. It could be some kind of airborne FOD as well during cruise flight. Any of that can easily hit the tail without hitting the wing, motor, or prop. Any of those are well within reason and statistically far more likely than a drone. Any of these would be my logical and likely assumption barring evidence to the contrary.
Or it could be drone. It would have had to dodge the wing, the motor, and the prop. It is statistically highly unlikely, and that magically missing everything else in front of it makes it even less likely. Again, not impossible. But it should hardly be the first guess. My question about the reporting of this incident remains a HUGE question mark.
Guys, that wasn't a bird.
And it wasn't a foamy fixed wing either.
Nothing in a foamy can deliver that high energy straight cut.
And regrettably, it wasn't a "plastic" Phantom either, for the same reason......
It was something that had an aluminium structure.
And those parallel scratches look rather similar to certain scars on my right arm :-(
Runway debris ? I doubt it.
If this was a drone, I'm sure there will be evidence left in that boot.
The headline is "Alleged RPA/Manned Aircraft Strike in USA". Then it goes on to say "The unconfirmed report is that a “company survey” aircraft impacted a small UAS at 2,500 feet near Lewis University..."
So who is alleging this? Who is reporting they think it was drone? It certainly isn't the FAA. And it doesn't seem that anyone else is either. The only place this incident can be found is Gary's report. This looks like Gary found an incident report of an aircraft being struck by [something], and decided to make it into a drone incident.
I expect way way better from Gary as well. So I really hope there are lots missing pieces that Gary didn't include in his report. If that's the case, this report really needs to be removed and maybe updated to reflect reality. This is just contributing to the hysteria and leaving literally everything up to the readers imagination.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 5 Next