An Air New Zealand flight carrying 278 passengers came within 17 feet of hitting a hobby drone which was so close to the plane that the pilots thought it had been sucked into an engine.
The NZ92 fight from Tokyo was landing at Auckland airport in New Zealand when its pilots spotted the drone, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Air New Zealand issued a statement following the near miss, in which Chief Operations Integrity and Standards Officer Captain David Morgan, said: “NZ92 was just meters away from a serious incident on Sunday. The pilots spotted the drone at a point in the descent where it was not possible to take evasive action. It passed so close to the incoming aircraft that they were concerned it may have been ingested into the engine.”
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After landing, an inspection of the Boeing 777-200 airplane found that the drone had not been sucked into the engine. It is not yet clear who was controlling the drone.
NEWSWEEK
