Drone hits a B-737 in Mexico...

HiloHawaiian · Dec 14, 2018

Hitting a commercial passenger jet is a big deal, but it was bound to happen... OK, it’s Mexico, but I fear it will be used as further justification to clamp down... Thoughts?

Drone shatters passenger jet’s nosecone & radar during landing (PHOTOS)

KentA · Dec 14, 2018

Oh-oh!

Jagerbomb52 · Dec 14, 2018

Seems kind of funny that there is no remains of any part of a UAV. If indeed one hit it looks like a dead on shot. and you would think there would be something caught in there.
I thought just a little while ago someone on here said these nose cones can and do fail. I don't know, guess we have to see what they come up with.

Jagerbomb52 · Dec 14, 2018

Looks like they hit superman if you ask me

Agabus · Dec 14, 2018

Drone my grass. Prove it. Big Bird down... laying in the grass somewhere and I doubt it is made of plastic.

HiloHawaiian · Dec 14, 2018

It’s just a lightweight fiberglass cone that’s formulated to be transparent to radar & antennas. Depending where the 737 was in it’s flight profile would determine the impact speed. Most likely 200-300mph on descent, unless it was on final, then about 170-160mph. 160 mph is enough for birds to do amazing damage to the cones, so it’s certainly possible an XSP-sized drone could do this much damage. The closing speed is pretty high, so small things can do lots of damage....

This is what birds can do, often part of the bird is still there. I’ve seen pics that are gross as hell...

HiloHawaiian · Dec 14, 2018

Agabus said:
Drone my grass. Prove it. Big Bird down... laying in the grass somewhere and I doubt it is made of plastic.

But birds leave a lot of residue, blood, feathers...

KentA · Dec 14, 2018

Maybe it hit reindeer?

Goober · Dec 15, 2018

Force = Mass x Acceleration

JSTorsrud · Dec 15, 2018

Agabus said:
Drone my grass. Prove it. Big Bird down... laying in the grass somewhere and I doubt it is made of plastic.

Absolutely agree! Where is the evidence it was a Drone that did that much damage! Chances are the pilots didn't even see it!

It would have to be allot bigger than a Phantom, Mavic or EVO to do that much damage.

Jagerbomb52 · Dec 15, 2018

HiloHawaiian · Dec 15, 2018

KentA said:
Maybe it hit reindeer?

How many reindeer can Santa loose before he radios MAYDAY!

JohnL · Dec 15, 2018

After seeing hundreds of bird strikes on radomes in my career as an aviation inspector, this was a glancing blow of whatever hit it. If in fact it was a glancing strike, there will be no debris inside. The lack of ANY blood tells me this probably was a UAV strike.

This amount of damage ALWAYS has a blood trail if struck by a bird. And yes, it makes quite a mess. I’ve seen it first hand, time after time.

Hate to say this, but I told you so in a previous thread. A radome is no match for a bird or UAV. Glad there was no injuries.

On the reindeer issue, I actually saw a SRC card from a F/A-18 we had in the shop that had “deer strike” as an entry. A SRC card follows the aircraft around and all repairs and reason for repairs are listed on it. So as far as the gov’t is concerned, that aircraft hit a deer. We had a good laugh over that entry.

UnRanged · Dec 15, 2018

Mozambique Incident Did NOT Involve a Drone

HiloHawaiian · Dec 15, 2018

UnRanged said:
Mozambique Incident Did NOT Involve a Drone

That’s such minor damage it doesn’t look like an impact of any kind...

HiloHawaiian · Dec 15, 2018

Typically, 24 hrs later more reputable news reports are backing off the drone ID since they can’t prove it. No blood, feathers, reindeer horns, or T-Rex teeth found inside the cone, so it’s now just an “object” hit the plane!
Photon torpedo?

Cause of mid-air damage to Mexican jetliner remains a mystery

UnRanged · Dec 15, 2018

HiloHawaiian said:
Typically, 24 hrs later more reputable news reports are backing off the drone ID since they can’t prove it. No blood, feathers, reindeer horns, or T-Rex teeth found inside the cone, so it’s now just an “object” hit the plane!
Photon torpedo?

Cause of mid-air damage to Mexican jetliner remains a mystery

Thought bubble?

JohnL · Dec 15, 2018

UnRanged said:
Mozambique Incident Did NOT Involve a Drone

This is what’s known as fake news. My first clue? Radomes do not have ribs, they are constructed of a continuous Fiberglas laminate known as prepreg plys. No metal, no ribs. Just glass and resin. Reason being, they MUST be radar transparent. Period.

Second clue? Radomes do not fail in this manner. That is impact damage. Period.

Of course “dronelife” is saying it isn’t so. It’s this constant denial and twisting of facts that doesn’t wash with me. What a bunch of tools.

HiloHawaiian · Dec 15, 2018

JohnL said:
This is what’s known as fake news. My first clue? Radomes do not have ribs, they are constructed of a continuous Fiberglas laminate known as prepreg plys. No metal, no ribs. Just glass and resin. Reason being, they MUST be radar transparent. Period.

Second clue? Radomes do not fail in this manner. That is impact damage. Period.

Of course “dronelife” is saying it isn’t so. It’s this constant denial and twisting of facts that doesn’t wash with me. What a bunch of tools.

Exactly. The story says the airline bought this radome “2nd hand”, LOL so is it possible somebody did a kludgy 3rd-world repair? Having flown all over Russia on 40 yr old duct-taped airliners, I’ve seen what passes for safety when nobody inspects anything...