Monday April 18, 2016
By Jake Flanagin
A passenger aircraft approaches London’s Heathrow Airport.(Reuters/Toby Melville)
A British Airways flight from Geneva is believed to have been hit by a drone as it approached London’s Heathrow Airport shortly after noon local time on Sunday (Apr. 17), with 132 passengers and five crew members aboard.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told The Evening Standard that the drone bounced off the front of the aircraft, and the plane was able to land safely. The pilot reported the collision to airport authorities.
“Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight,” a spokesperson for British Airways told the BBC.
Aviation police have launched an investigation into the incident, but no arrests have been made.