Originally Posted by
Sigwx
One of our 747s came within 50ft and a 787 300ft of hitting one of these ....... devices over London during the summer. Having seen the AeroMexico incident and research on the effects to helicopters and the windscreens on commercial aircraft I would far rather not take a chance. The problem is one of closing speed. By the time you tend to see these things it is too late. Admittedly if they are lit up like a Christmas tree at night it could be a little easier but even still. I’d imagine this was a ‘plane stupid’ or other tree hugger stunt, but who knows right now. Sadly there is no licensing scheme mandated for having these stupid things.
Having just retired from a large, worldwide helicopter operator serving the oil & gas industry (which also performs SAR work in the UK), this continues to be a very worrisome possibility in the rotorcraft industry, especially should a drone impact the windscreen.
We also worry about bird strikes as well. Several years ago a competitor's helicopter operating in Louisiana had a red tail hawk strike the windscreen of one of their Sikorsky S-76 helicopters while the aircraft was in flight. The hawk came through the windscreen and caused the helicopter to crash. No one survived the impact. A red tail hawk is similar in size and weight to many of the smaller drones.