In Dallas yesterday Virgin America flight crossed paths with a private drone.


http://bit.ly/1ETnJct

Watched this.

I don't necessarily doubt the pilot but if I was the defense lawyer I would say "where is your evidence?"

Yug

Not saying it wasnt a drone, but all the strange lights in the sky these planes used to claim to see that used to be reported as ufo's or not reported cause pilots didn't want to seem crazy just became drones.  Don't get me wrong I'm not a ufo conspiracy type person, nor am I saying it wasn't a drone, just how every light in the sky where they know a plane isn't seems to becoming drones half of them with no proof other than a pilots word.

I would love to know just how the pilot could possibly even see it? Half the time they can't even see a flock of geese at 200 MPH, ... unless of course it was a military drone.(tongue in cheek)

frankly i believe the pilot.  the comms said it was 200ft above them right in front of the plane as it landed.  with the view they have out of the cockpit forward, it isnt a stretch for them to effectively make out a drone 200ft away even moving at a high rate of speed (and landing speeds arent the same as cruising speeds).  there certainly wasnt another plane 200ft away and anyone suggesting something besides a plane or a drone isnt being reasonable from a probability standpoint, just because it is only the pilot's word doesnt discount common sense.

i believe the pilot.  what do they gain from making it up?  

They will catch whoever because it is just a matter of time before the quad video shows up on Facebook or Youtube.  Guys that do stupid things just can not wait to show their buddies the effing proof.

ace, totally agree, i thought that too.  the flight profile described appeared on our local news coverage to be someone looking to get a 'great shot' of a plane landing.  that smells of 'hey bill, check this out' fever.  i frankly hope they do get caught.  morons.

It might be coming to the point where we have to get a little more involved in controlling these idiots as they are making us all look bad.

I. P. Freely Posted at 2015-5-1 01:48
It might be coming to the point where we have to get a little more involved in controlling these idi ...

How was the drone able to get into secure air space. Isn't the firmware programmed to prevent such an incursion?

frandenr, firmware is just code.  many could easily override, just like jailbreaking phones or any takeover process, the 'security' is only as good as the controls

frandenr@dennis Posted at 2015-5-1 06:35
How was the drone able to get into secure air space. Isn't the firmware programmed to prevent such ...

Older versions don't even have the flight limits...a Phantom 1 or Blade 350 or many others could go wherever they want (with the older firmware)Also, you can buy the NAZA and othe flight controllers without GPS....so no limits can be set anyway! Same with 3DR, etc.

I. P. Freely Posted at 2015-5-1 01:48
It might be coming to the point where we have to get a little more involved in controlling these idi ...

Your name almost made me P@# freely. Please stop changing your name as it upsets the perfect people!

Regards

Yug, Guy, nomme de juerre, Tweety, TweetyP2H33D, guymacdonald etc etc (etc etc was not one but it would be good)

OK, Yug.  Perhaps I will change it again soon.

how would we police them?  Drones are so easy that amazon delivers them and people can be int he air in less than an hour.

I am a pilot, talked to other pilots and we all feel this report is suspect.  Given the approach speed of 110 - 140 kts on approach at night at only 400 feet agl, I can't imagine any pilot not focused on the runway  he is going to land on in about 40 seconds vs. 200 feet above his altitude.  Also, the pilot identified it as a quadcopter!   He must have superhuman vision to have seen the shape to the extent he could clearly identify it as a quad.   Not saying the pilot was intentionally lying, just mistaken.

It almost does not matter whether the pilot was right or wrong. I bet for every wrong identification of a drone by a pilot there are many close encounters that were never spotted by anyone. The fact is that idiots will be idiots and there is some real attraction to getting a close up view of a big jet in the air. On the other hand I know that the chances that a drone could do any real damage, let alone get hit by an aircraft, are extremely low and that the threat by the rapidly rising population of Canadian Geese is much greater.