Alarm as ‘drone smashes into British Airways jet’ filled with passengers at Heathrow, in possible world-first collision

A British Airways jetliner is believed to have been smashed into a drone on Sunday as it approached London’s Heathrow airport, with the suspected world-first collision highlighting growing concern about the potential hazard posed by unmanned aircraft.

Flight 727’s pilot reported at about 12.50 p.m. local time that he believed a drone had struck the front of his Airbus A320 from Geneva, according to a statement from the London Metropolitan Police. There were no injuries among the 132 passengers and five crew members, and police are investigating.

“Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight,” British Airways, a unit of IAG SA, said in a statement. The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, which called it “a possible incident with a drone”, said that “it is totally unacceptable to fly drones close to airports and anyone flouting the rules can face severe penalties including imprisonment.”

The incident underlines the growing risks errant drones pose to airlines. The US Federal Aviation Administration reported 1,200 incidents last year involving drones, up fivefold from 2014. No collisions were reported, though the incidents included flying too close to passenger airliners and other aircraft. The agency predicts 2.5 million drones will be sold in 2016.

“As far as I’m aware this is the first time a drone has collided with a commercial jet,” said Hans Weber, president of San Diego-based aviation consulting firm Tecop International Inc. “It clearly was illegal where this drone was being flown.”

Regulators have been working for years trying to decide how to regulate drones as the number of recreational aircraft soars, according to John Robbins, assistant professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.