A JetBlue Airbus A321 with as many as 159 passengers on board was struck by a drone as it was on its final approach to land at New York JFK on Monday morning, air traffic control recordings have revealed.
“Just quickly… We collided with a drone back there on the turn,” one of the pilots told the air traffic control as the aircraft was flying at just 3,000 feet.
“You said you collided?” the air traffic controller replied. “Yup, it hit us right above the cockpit,” the pilots responded.
The incident involved JetBlue flight B9-948, which was coming to the end of a four-hour flight from Las Vegas. Despite the collision, however, the pilots did not request the presence of emergency services, and the plane landed as normal on Runway 13L at New York JFK.
In a statement, a spokesperson for JetBlue told us: “On Monday, June 29, the crew of JetBlue flight 948from Las Vegas (LAS) to New York (JFK) reported a possible drone encounter during the aircraft’s final approach into New York.”
“The flight landed without incident, customers deplaned normally, and the plane was removed from service for a post-flight inspection, which found no damage or evidence of a collision. Safety is JetBlue’s first priority, and we will assist with any relevant investigations.”
The incident occurred just days after a packed United Airlines Boeing 737 with 106 passengers and five crew members on board narrowly avoided colliding with a drone as it made its final approach to land at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on Friday.
Although the drone appeared to be a small recreational UAV, a collision at high speed could be enough to cause serious damage to one of the plane’s engines at a critical stage of flight, or even smash the cockpit windscreen.
Last October, a tiny weather-measuring device, which detached from a high-altitude balloon, smashed into the windscreen of a United Airlines aircraft as it flew at 36,000 feet above the state of Utah.
The Captain noticed a small object flying towards the aircraft just moments before the device collided with the windscreen with such ferocity that it caused both the outer and inner panes of the windscreen to shatter, showering the Captain with broken glass and leaving him bloodied.
Thankfully, a middle pane of smash-resistant material withstood the impact, and the structural integrity of the windscreen wasn’t compromised.
The manufacturer of the weather measurement device, Windborne, said the device was 2x lighter than previous models and had been designed specifically with this type of accident in mind. A much larger device, such as a drone, could cause a lot more damage.
Drones have become an increasingly worrying headache for airlines and airports, and irresponsible drone operators have caused entire airfields to shut down due to the risk they pose to aircraft.
Larger, military-style drones have also caused headaches for a number of European airports since late last year, with sightings causing massive disruption.
A growing number of airports have sophisticated drone detection systems, but these cannot disable or take down drones.
JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
