A United jet coming into San Diego on Wednesday triggered an unsettling alert: the crew reported they may have hit a drone on approach, then landed without incident and later found no damage. United says Flight 1980, a Boeing 737 from San Francisco carrying 48 passengers and six crew, “reported a possible drone strike just prior to arriving in San Diego,” but maintenance crews’ full inspection turned up nothing, NBC San Diego reports.
An audio recording captures the pilot telling air traffic control, “We hit a drone at around, probably around 3,000 feet,” adding that the object was small, red, and shiny. Minutes earlier, the pilot asked controllers if there was a drone in the area, saying he “saw like a red small object … about 1,000 feet below us to our right,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
The FAA says it is investigating the incident. “Air traffic control alerted other pilots but did not receive any additional drone-sighting reports,” spokesman Ian Gregory said in a statement. Federal rules bar drones from flying higher than 400 feet without clearance and prohibit flying them in restricted airspace, including around airports.
