A United Airlines plane getting at Washington Reagan National Airport on Saturday apparently collided with a fly during its descent from Houston.
According to Air Traffic Control tapes, the team noticed the sail hovering above Gravelly Point, a garden situated near the airport along the Potomac River’s Virginia beach. The place prohibits fly flying due to its close proximity to descending plane.
The aircraft reported,” It was over the garden, about 100 legs over the surface, it looks like it’s right on the journey path”.
The Boeing 737, operating as Flight 654, safely landed with 126 people and five staff people at around 4 am EDT, United confirmed.
” We are aware of studies that a fly struck UA trip 654 from Houston to Regan Airport in Washington DC”, United carriers said in a speech to CBS News. ” The aircraft landed safely, clients deplaned usually and upon examination there was no harm to the airplane”.
Park visitors enjoying the nice weather witnessed the plane’s call with the sail, according to CBS online WUSA9, CBS information reported.
” There was a fly that looked a little higher than it should be, we thought it might just be a view point from where we were standing but, lo and behold, as the aircraft got a little bit closer, it came into contact with the kite”, stated Dylan Oakes, a maker at the D. C. media stop and former flight attendant.
WUSA9 reported that Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority Police visited the park and seized a sail.
” Airports Authority police officers responded to reports of kite-flying at Gravely Point nowadays, an activity which is not allowed in that region due to the danger to low-flying aircraft”, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority stated.
A Reagan National director confirmed that no charges were filed and the sail was returned to its user.
This incident occurred around 24 hours after a Delta trip received a motion notice due to a nearby military plane, following some concerning near-misses since a deadly midair collision killed 67 at the DC airport in January.
Following the fatal crash between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight, the National Transportation Safety Board issued recommendations to address a” serious safety risk” at Reagan National, including restricting helicopter operations near the airport when runways 15 and 33 are active.
