The U.K. government is downplaying a widely circulated reportthat a British Airways A320 collided with a drone last month. Shortly after the incident hit the headlines, Robert Goodwill said the object hit by the aircraft might have been a plastic bag. Later in the month transport department officials told members of Parliament that that the mishap was “not a drone incident” but that a drone strike had not been ruled out. Even so, there’s been no evidence that the aircraft actually hit a drone.
Scotland Yard officials said they’ve searched a “wide area” under the position of the aircraft at the time of the collision and haven’t turned up a scrap of plastic that belongs to a drone. Also, initial reports that the plane was dented have been discounted. Goodwill said engineers couldn’t find a scratch on the Airbus and immediately cleared it for flight. Nevertheless, there continue to be calls for more stringent laws against flying drones near airports, which Goodwill maintains are unnecessary. If it was a drone that hit the flight, there are already numerous laws that were violated and he said authorities don’t need any more legal clout.
