Mexican authorities are trying to determine if a drone collision smashed the radome and damaged some aluminum on the nose of an Aeromexico Boeing 737-800 landing at Tijuana Dec. 12. Whatever the airliner, which was on its way from Guadalajara, hit, it crumpled the fiberglass and left scratches farther back on the nose and didn’t appear to have left any telltale gore and feathers. Authorities said cockpit recordings captured crew members saying they heard a “pretty loud bang” according to Bloomberg.
The airline said the crew reported the noise to air traffic controllers and asked staff in the tower if they could see any damage to the aircraft. “The exact cause is still being investigated,” Aeromexico said in a statement. “The aircraft landed normally and the passengers’ safety was never compromised.” Confirmed drone collisions remain relatively rare. Canadian authorities determined a drone dented the wing of a King Air near Quebec City in 2017 and a Marine Corps helicopter suffered some rotor damage when it hit a drone over New York also in 2017.
