Suspected drone collision with British Airways jet 'could have been a plastic bag'

The 'drone' that a British Airways jet collided with on Sunday (April 17) may have actually been a plastic bag, an MP has said.

Transport minister Robert Goodwill told a House of Lords committee on Thursday (April 21) that he was aware of 'speculation' the object the plane hit while coming in to land at Heathrow Airport was merely a bag flying in the wind.

The incident has prompted an investigation between The Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the Metropolitan Police, which has been investigating early reports that the object was a drone.

A recent rise in near-misses involving drones has led to warnings that offenders could face up to six months imprisonment if they flew drones irresponsibly.

But Mr Goodwill has since dismissed calls for tighter restrictions , stating in front of a House of Lords committee on April 21 that: “There are already existing laws in place that require the user of drones to maintain direct unaided visual contact with their vehicle and not to recklessly or negligently permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property.”

The Conservative politician and Minister of State for Transport said: “The reported drone strike on Sunday has not been confirmed it was actually a drone. It was the local police force that tweeted that they had a report of a drone striking an aircraft.

“And indeed the early reports of a dent in the front of the plane were not confirmed – there was no actual damage to the plane and there's indeed some speculation that it may have even been a plastic bag or something.”

People who fly drones irresponsibly have previously been accused of spoiling the hobby for those that do take care .

'I've not actually landed a 747 at Heathrow'

The Airbus A320 was on its approach to Heathrow at 12.50pm on Sunday 17 April, when it collided with the unidentified object, originally suspected to be a drone.

The Met said the plane was struck at around 1,700ft whilst flying over Richmond Park – more than four times the legal height limit for operating unmanned aerial vehicles.

Pointing to the fact that the pilots could not confirm for sure what the object was, Mr Goodwill urged for a calm response to the incident.

He said: “I've not actually landed a 747 at Heathrow but I've landed the simulator and the pilot has a lot of other things to concentrate on so we're not quite sure what they saw so I think we should maybe not overreact too much.

“This instance that we've read about and is alleged were already breaking existing legislation and the Department [of Transport] and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are working with a wide range of industry partners across the sector, including manufacturers, airports and airlines to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircrafts remains up-to-date.”