Yet another 'drone strike'

[Martin Whybrow]

Just spotted this report, apparently confirmed as a 'drone' strike, although the pilots thought it was a bird strike. I'm wondering how the ground staff confirmed it as a drone strike (lack of blood and guts perhaps).

[Jon H]

It hit something stronger than a paper bag that's for sure. If it is confirmed to be a drone then clearly that is not good at all, but playing devils advocate, an impact with what i would assume is a sizeable drone didnt result in the aircraft exploding into a million pieces as some sensationalist reporting would lead people to believe, and that is a small comfort.

I hope they do actually prove what it was though and reveal their evidence otherwise its just more conjecture

[Piers Bowlan]

Perhaps aircraft should have forward facing video cameras fitted so that there is some photo evidence of what they did or did not hit. If some motor cyclists and cars have them, why not aircraft?

[Jon H]

Posted by Piers Bowlan on 06/01/2017 13:12:30:

Perhaps aircraft should have forward facing video cameras fitted so that there is some photo evidence of what they did or did not hit. If some motor cyclists and cars have them, why not aircraft?

good shout

[Peter Miller]

I have seen very similar damage caused by a large bird on the nose cone of an aircraft in Aden. There was no blood or feathers.

[Phil Green]

If they'd found a brushless motor inside the radome I might be convinced but looking at the photos, it seems highly unlikely. It looks to me like a spread impact, like it hit something large and soft.

[Gordon Tarling]

Some of the modern airliners are fitted with external cameras, but it's usually a customer option, so not fitted to all.

[Don Fry]

I used to be a crime scene examiner. A quess but that nose looks fibreglass or similar. It should be possible to find plastic or aluminium alloy smears in the impact surfaces. Or indeed DNA if organic. No different to a car crash. I have no idea of the competence or other wise of accident investigators at this end of their trade.

No blood is neither here or there, it takes time to bleed, and if just a glancing blow, the dying carcase is gone by the time blood escapes.

But it does not look like a spread impact. There seem to be multiple impact points. Pushing the facts a bit further, (Accepting I have only one view, off a photo),those points look to me on three ot four points on a square. But in my opinion I would not like to speculate further from what I can see

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Two things interesting here I think:

1. As many have said, while it clearly hit something, there is no obvious evidence cited that it was a drone - it could have been any number of things.

2. I am very encouraged by the fact that this is a full size aviation site and reading the comments below there is a healthy sceptism amongst many of the contributors toward the universal impulse reaction "It was a drone" - it's good that they too are starting to at least question this jumping to conclusions.

BEB

[ken anderson.]

in our local press......during the week. The national trust have banned all drones from flying on their property....... Camera equipped or not........

ken Anderson...ne...1 drone dept.

[Piers Bowlan]

A large bird was ingested into one of our B757s RB2-11s after take off from Mombassa. There was a bang, a lot of vibration and the passengers reported the strong smell of roast chicken in the cabin! (they should be so lucky). They landed back at Mombassa to find two very bent fan blades, the bird didn't fair too well either!

[Edite for inappropriate language]

Edited By Piers Bowlan on 06/01/2017 16:27:08

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 14/01/2017 12:31:40

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

The NT havn't allowed flying from most of their property for some time now as far as I understand. We did some flights for them recently, for work, and they all needed special permits from NT HQ in Swindon.

BEB

[Peter Miller]

Posted by Donald Fry on 06/01/2017 14:50:23:

I used to be a crime scene examiner. A quess but that nose looks fibreglass or similar. It should be possible to find plastic or aluminium alloy smears in the impact surfaces. Or indeed DNA if organic. No different to a car crash. I have no idea of the competence or other wise of accident investigators at this end of their trade.

No blood is neither here or there, it takes time to bleed, and if just a glancing blow, the dying carcase is gone by the time blood escapes.

But it does not look like a spread impact. There seem to be multiple impact points. Pushing the facts a bit further, (Accepting I have only one view, off a photo),those points look to me on three ot four points on a square. But in my opinion I would not like to speculate further from what I can see

It would seem that a few agree with me.in the postings on the original article **LINK** The refference to a "2 Kg bird " strikes me as probably an under estimate of the weight of a Kitehawk They were big birds.

The Analysis does sound very interesting and as I said, it does look similar to the nose I saw. That was more central and in thin aluminium

I do remember one being hit by a combat wing over our control line circle in Aden. The bird flew away, The combat model including the engine were right offs.

[ChrisB]

Drone or bird?? Its a sign of the times that people assume its a drone!

[eflightray]

It was more likely to have been an alien spacecraft it bumped into, there are plenty of them about going by all the videos on Youtube.

Pilots no longer dare mention 'UFO', as that may require a psychiatric reevaluation. So now it's easier to just say it was, 'a drone'.

[TigerOC]

Pardon my scepticism. "On final approach to Tete it hit something." I was born and brought up in that part of the World and Tete is deep rural Africa and given the economic reality of that region it probably has not progressed much from the time Portugal abandoned it to the locals.

Unless some professional group were in the area filming wildlife that was not a drone. The locals are unlikely to be able to buy a drone in that area let alone fly one. They would probably be struggling to feed themselves.

This region has one of the highest bird densities in the World and there are some really big raptors and storks that inhabit this region. Plump for a bird strike.

Rob

[simon burch]

Reading a thread on another forum a chap said that plane had over shot a landing and collided with elevated runway lights a few years earlier. Apparently the same picture was used.

To cause that much damage on a side impact in flight, the closing speed would have to be huge or the mass of the object would be far greater than a drone. I just don't see it, just another ill informed media story.

Simon

[Peter Miller]

I would suggest going on Google and searching for "BirdStrike" and looking at the images there.

If tat doesn't convince anyone that this was a bird strike nothing will

[Don Fry]

Two points.

Simon, I know you are reporting what someone else says, but that photo was taken at the reported incident location, you can read it on the building in the background. Seems a coincidence too far that both occurred at tha same airport.

And Peter, I have looked at pages of bird strikes as you suggested suggested. The inpact on the suspect photo still looks too lumpy to me

I will now shut up.

[ken anderson.]

funny how these threads nearly always descend into the majority of people wanting to disprove it was a drone strike ...... surely they cant all be birds,kites and carrier bags...... what if? my opinion/thoughts..

ken Anderson ...ne....1 opinion dept.

[TigerOC]

I invite you to use Google Earth to visit Tete, Mozambique.

**LINK**

note one tar road which is the main road from Malawi to Beira.

Most of your sheds would be better than the "dwellings" there. The first major super-market opened there just over a year ago. I am sure buying a big drone there is a major aspiration for the locals.

The pilot drove the plane into a big object / big object reversed into plane. If he tells his boss what happened he'll get fired. So he hit a drone. If you believe this story you will believe anything.

[John Privett]

And now the Daily Express have got hold of the story and are stating (with still no real evidence) that "A DRONE" (their dramatic capitalisation) "crashed into" the 737, causing "extensive damage" to the "giant jet".

Dear, oh dear, these tabloids are getting more like the News of the World, Daily Sport, etc. etc. every day. A series of videos across the top of the page reduces their (limited) credibility as a serious news source even further - with titles such as "UFO caught on camera arriving through a wormhole?", "Titanic WAS NOT sunk by Iceberg - new evidence suggests shock..." and "Lionel Blair makes shock confession about wife of 50 years live..." Good grief!

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Oooh what's Lionel been up to

[Peter Miller]

I haven't bought a newspaper in about 30+ years.

You can sum up the stories in any paper in any combinayion of three words.

Sex, Sadism and Stupidity

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Posted by Peter Miller on 07/01/2017 19:03:34:

I haven't bought a newspaper in about 30+ years.

You can sum up the stories in any paper in any combinayion of three words.

Sex, Sadism and Stupidity

I must be reading the wrong newspapers! You don't see much of any them in either the The Times or The Guardian! I'm obviously missing out,.....

BEB

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 07/01/2017 21:42:22