A United Airlines pilot arriving in San Diego Wednesday morning reported encountering a drone thousands of feet in the air as the plane approached the airport, according to airport tower audio.
United flight 1980 departed from San Francisco International Airport at 6:53 a.m. and flew roughly 90 minutes before landing at San Diego International at 8:28 a.m. But as the Boeing 737 approached the airport in San Diego, the pilot reported to the tower that the plane had possibly hit a drone while flying at about 3,000 feet.
According to recordings of the conversation between the pilot and the tower reviewed by The Times, the pilot tells ground control that it happened on the “base leg” of the flight, generally when the plane flies perpendicular to the runway as it prepares to land.
The air traffic controller asks him for more details: “Do you have like approximate size or how many engines or style or anything like that?”
“It was so small I couldn’t tell,” the pilot responds. “It was red…it was shiny.”
Minutes earlier, the pilot radioed in to staff at the tower, SoCal Approach, asking if a drone was near that location. “Not that I’m aware,” the controller responds.
“I believe I just saw like a red small object…about 1000 feet below us to our right,” the pilot says.
The plane, which was carrying 48 passengers and six crew members, landed safely.
A spokesperson for the FAA said it is aware of the the report and is investigating.
Pilots are prohibited from operating drones above 400 feet altitude unless they have authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration. Drone pilots also must avoid restricted airspace, including the airspace around airports, according to FAA regulations.
It was not immediately clear if the drone actually collided with the aircraft. The airline’s maintenance team “found no damage after thoroughly inspecting the aircraft,” United Airlines said in a statement to The Times.
The plane departed San Diego at 10:16 a.m. and is scheduled to arrive in Houston, Texas Wednesday afternoon, according to Flightaware.
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