Drone that reportedly hit a plane might be a plastic bag

[spartaman64]

Transportation minister Robert Goodwin said that it is unconfirmed that what hit the plane was a Drone. There was no damage to the plane despite unconfirmed early reports of a dent and it is speculated that what struck the plane was a plastic bag or something. Goodwin also dismiss calls for tighter Drone laws saying the current ones are good enough.

 

It's a good move by Mr Goodwin to not have a knee jerk reaction to an unconfirmed event. And insisting that manufacturers build in mechanisms like Geofencing to prevent terrorist from using them is pointless in my opinion because it's not hard to build your own Drone. 

 

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/21/drone-believed-to-have-hit-british-airways-flight-may-have-been/?utm_content=buffer2f1ef&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[Sauron]

LOL

[Oshino Shinobu]

How silly. It's obviously aliens. Can't really blame them, though, there's a fine line between drones, plastic bags and aliens. 

[Maslofski]

lol, pilot had a plastic bag to his face and made up an excuse

[Sir Asvald]

1 hour ago, huilun02 said:

Definitely need to ban plastic bags now

Well they charge us 5 pence to use plastic bags at the shops. 

[MEC-777]

[dalekphalm]

Hold on now... I'll quote the exact words:

 

"It's speculated that what struck the plane was a plastic bag or something"

 

That doesn't mean it wasn't a drone. It means they have no idea what struck the plane. It could have been a trout, at this point.

 

They still need to ensure (whether this is with current laws with tighter enforcement, or with new laws, or even new technology to protect the airspace around airports) that planes are safe from drones. A drone could very well destroy an engine. It might not cause any damage to the hull of a plane (Aside from maybe some denting/minor structural damage), but if it struck an engine, it could be catastrophic. A larger drone could certainly take down a plane.

 

People compare drones to birds all the time, but birds are made of flesh and bone, and are on average, pretty small. A drone could be less than a foot across with mostly plastic, or it could weigh 30 Kg and have tons of metal in it. Not to mention that drones have batteries, which can explode or catch fire under certain circumstances, which would just increase the risk of catastrophic failure.

 

And sure, a plane can usually survive one lost engine (Eg: Commercial Airlines), but if that happens a half second before landing touchdown, where the plane is say, jerked violently to one side because of the force differential, and the pilot doesn't have time to react? That could kill everyone on board.

 

Anyway, Drones definitely need regulation to some degree, but banning them will simply mean honest folk can't enjoy the hobby. Airports need to start outfitting themselves with directed EM weapons, jammers, net-guns, anti-drone-drones, or even a guy in a helicopter with some bird-shot shells and a shotgun.

 

They need to do something, since even Geo-fencing won't stop someone who custom builds their own drone for nefarious purposes.

[GeekJump]

10 hours ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

How silly. It's obviously aliens. Can't really blame them, though, there's a fine line between drones, plastic bags and aliens. 

I feel like this is the 2nd time you beat me to a joke....

 

I was going to use the Alien Guy meme and replace the text with plastic bags...then I saw your post

[Master Disaster]

19 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

Transportation minister Robert Goodwin said that it is unconfirmed that what hit the plane was a Drone. There was no damage to the plane despite unconfirmed early reports of a dent and it is speculated that what struck the plane was a plastic bag or something. Goodwin also dismiss calls for tighter Drone laws saying the current ones are good enough.

 

It's a good move by Mr Goodwin to not have a knee jerk reaction to an unconfirmed event. And insisting that manufacturers build in mechanisms like Geofencing to prevent terrorist from using them is pointless in my opinion because it's not hard to build your own Drone. 

 

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/21/drone-believed-to-have-hit-british-airways-flight-may-have-been/?utm_content=buffer2f1ef&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Hang on a second here, this minister seems to be well informed and rational? It might not have been aliens that hit the plane but I'm calling it now, Mr Goodwin is definitely an Alien.

 

I would have expected...

 

 

[Trik'Stari]

On 4/22/2016 at 6:53 AM, huilun02 said:

Definitely need to ban plastic bags now

Those plastic bags could be used to choke people! Assault Bags!

 

 #BanAllBagsNow2016

[VerticalDiscussions]

Plastic Bag = Dent.... Plastic Airplane detected

[WelshDdraig]

On 4/22/2016 at 11:53 AM, huilun02 said:

Definitely need to ban plastic bags now

We already have to pay for them, Should get rid of them all together. I can't remember the last time I used a plastic bag from a shop, reusable bags or just take one of the cardboard boxes at the bottom of the checkout. 

[Master Disaster]

4 hours ago, VerticalDiscussions said:

Plastic Bag = Dent.... Plastic Airplane detected

Well a ping pong ball travelling at 1,100mph will smash a hole straight through a ping pong bat and continue on as though there was nothing there so a bag hitting a plane travelling at 700 to 800mph (just a guess mind, I'm not sure exactly how fast passanger planes travel?) would very likely cause at least some minor cosmetic damage to the plane if not a few small dents.

 

[BuckGup]

I gurentee it was a bird and all the captain say was white out of the corner of his eye. Drones are white, birds are white, bags are white. All look them same when hit by a plane

[xgn]

Just like i said not confirmed.

[ThinkWithPortals]

Never before has a headline brought tears or laughter to my eyes... LMAO.

[Castdeath97]

I have said this before, they never confirmed that it was a drone. It was a sensationalist title by the BBC: