Another alleged drone strike report shot down in flames.

[Brian R]

The report that a LAM Mozambique Airlines 737 had been hit by a drone while landing at Tete airport has been found to be complete rubbish.
Pictures of damage to the aircrafts radome (nose cone) were widely circulated and reported as "drone damage" whereas in fact it was a structural failure caused by poor maintenance.
I doubt the truth will circulate as quickly or receive the same high profile reporting, much in the same way that the plastic bag that got near the BA flight landing at London Heathrow, also report as a Drone was overlooked by the MSM.

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story !

 

[samsflite]

There was a front page piece in the Evening Standard (a large commuter paper in London) about the 7 deadly near misses of drones near London's airports. Of the 7 'reported' incidents by Pilots, I think four of them were over 10 miles from the airport at a reported height of 6000ft AGL! That article really bothered me as you can imagine....

 

[Drone_Video]

I wonder if it would make sense for someone with some talent and time to create a site that draws people in looking for reasons to hate drones and find all the reasons to hate them in one place, but what they really find is the full story like this post shows where the drone didnt do anything (to was not even there)....

The publicity and organized efforts against this hobby are amazing compared to how we the body of the hobby don't seem to have an organized approach to respond back with.

I wonder if it makes sense to to organizer all the spotting, claims AND rebuttals to these type of stores so that people can find them, and get the full story out?

 

[Flying-Potato]

Snip

The story won't make world wide news. Because anything that happens in Africa that does not have to do with decease is considered not a good story.
The news networks would rather have something fictitious (or at least without verifying any evidence).

...Of the 7 'reported' incidents by Pilots, I think four of them were over 10 miles from the airport at a reported height of 6000ft AGL! That article really bothered me as you can imagine....

6,000ft AGL, is often 6-11nm from the airport (depending on the airport location) and for a pilot to glide by a UAV / UAS at that altitude and spot such a tiny thing at that speed is absurd. I don't think any responsible UAV/UAS operator is even comfortable of claiming to that altitude let alone be un aware of the flight path they are in.

 

[samsflite]

Exactly, a couple of them even stated they were 'white with four propellers'. How would they even spot that, and who's flying a phantom to 6000ft? Sometimes I wonder if commercial pilots feel threatened by the UAV industry and the fact that any person with a bit of money can now get in the air too. It often seems like a lot of these stories are made up just to get in the news and get UAVs banned.

 

[Brian R]

The story won't make world wide news. Because anything that happens in Africa that does not have to do with decease is considered not a good story.
The news networks would rather have something fictitious (or at least without verifying any evidence).



6,000ft AGL, is often 6-11nm from the airport (depending on the airport location) and for a pilot to glide by a UAV / UAS at that altitude and spot such a tiny thing at that speed is absurd. I don't think any responsible UAV/UAS operator is even comfortable of claiming to that altitude let alone be un aware of the flight path they are in.

That story did make the UK MSM but only the false report of a drone causing the damage, the subsequent retraction by the airline didn't. I was searching the AAIB reports on alleged drone strikes and found it. It doesn't matter where in the world airliners operate there are a number of reporting methods they must all comply with and the a/c manufacturers have their own interests to protect (remember flight MH370 ?)
I find it strange that pilots who would risk being grounded for reporting UFOs can identify a drone at 6000 ft while traveling at 500 knots.
I would also be interested in learning which drones can fly that high (MQ1 Predator exclude)