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Study: Drones Inflict ‘Minimal’ Damage to Aircraft
Jesse Tabit March 17, 2016
flying drone with camera on the sky (Photo: iStock)
By using data on bird strikes, researchers at George Mason University found that the damage a small consumer drone would cause if it collided with an aircraft would be “minimal.” Though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recently pointed out the interference drones cause to airspace, the team found “only 3% of collisions between aircraft and birds similar in weight to domestic drones result in damage.”
In an article, project researchers Eli Dourado and Samuel Hammond wrote: “Contrary to sensational media headlines, the skies are crowded not by drones, but by fowl.”
For more information on this story, visit BBC News.
[Photo: Getty Images]
A cut or reduced output engine does not equal a downed airframe. Bird strikes hardly ever lead to a hull loss of an airliner.
A drone sucked into a jet engine WILL bring down an aircraft. The authors were playing games with the statistical data. But the same stats for large and medium size fowl sucked into the jets are equally applicable to drones.
I wouldn't be surprised that a drone sucked into an engine might cause more damage than a bird of equal weight and size.
These things should not be anywhere near an aircraft.....PERIOD!