A United Airlines flight collided with a ‘shiny, red’ drone midair Wednesday morning.
The Boeing 737 reportedly hit the mysterious object over San Diego at around 3000 ft in the air.
The aircraft, identified as flight 1980, took off from San Francisco at 6.53am PST, according to flightaware.
‘United flight 1980 reported a possible drone strike just prior to arriving in San Diego,’ United Airlines told Daily Mail in a statement.
‘The flight landed safely, and customers deplaned normally at the gate. Our maintenance team found no damage after thoroughly inspecting the aircraft,’ they added.
The aircraft had 48 passengers and six crew members on board, according to the airline.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told the Daily Mail they are aware of the report and are actively investigating.
The collision audio between the pilot and dispatcher was captured by the ATC app and shared to social media.
The collision audio between the pilot and dispatcher was captured by the ATC app and shared to social media
A United Airlines flight collided with a ‘shiny, red’ drone midair Wednesday morning, according to social media reports
‘Ground 1980, you know off of runway 27 at Broadway Robin?’ the dispatcher is heard asking.
‘We hit a drone. At around, probably, at around 3000ft, about,’ the pilot responded.
The dispatcher asked: ‘Do you have like an approximate size or how many engines or style or anything like that?’
‘It was so small, I couldn’t tell. It was red. It was shiny,’ the pilot is heard saying.
No injuries or aircraft damage have been reported. The Daily Mail reached out to United Airlines for comment.
Pilots cannot operate drones above 400ft altitude unless they have specific authorization, according to the FAA.
Drone pilots also must avoid restricted airspace, including the airspace around airports.
The collision has sparked some questions on social media, with many questioning how the drone was able to reach such vast heights.
‘No off the shelf consumer drone can get to 3000 ft. I’ll be very interested to see how this investigation plays out,’ one user wrote on X.
Midair collisions between planes and drones are rare but reports have increased over the years.
Audio recording captions show the pilot describing the drone
The Boeing 737 reportedly hit the mysterious object over San Diego at around 3000 ft in the air
Drones made up nearly two-thirds of reported near midair collisions involving commercial passenger planes during takeoff and landing at the nation’s 30 busiest airports in 2024, according to an Associated Press analysis.
This strike follows another United Airlines incident in the Golden State, last month an aircraft made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after the plane suffered a reported engine failure.
On March 2, Flight UA 2127 had to turn back to LAX after heading for Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after smoke started filling up the aircraft.
The Boeing 787 had to deploy emergency evacuation slides on the runway so passengers could flee the plane.
According to tracking information from FlightAware, the plane took off from Terminal 7 around 10.15am.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) then got a report of an engine problem onboard the aircraft around 11.05am, prompting the plane to circle back to LAX around 11.20am.
Only one passenger suffered a minor cut to their finger. There were 268 people, including 12 crew members, on board.
After the emergency landing, the LAFD confirmed the plane landed safely.
Stock image of person flying a drone. United Airlines confirmed the plane’s reported possible drone strike just prior to arriving in San Diego
‘LAFD crews have confirmed United flight #2127 has landed safely and is clear of all passengers and crew members following reported engine problems,’ the agency said.
United Airlines also confirmed the landing, telling the Daily Mail: ‘United flight 2127 safely returned to Los Angeles to address an issue with one of the engines.
‘Customers deplaned via slides and airstairs and were bused to the terminal. There are no reported injuries at this time. We’re working to get our customers to their final destinations.’
They added: ‘There are no reported injuries at this time. We’re working to get our customers to their final destinations.’
A different aircraft was arranged for passengers to get to Newark, the airline said.
This is a breaking news story.
