JetBlue flight reports striking drone while landing at JFK

[stevewhite]

JetBlue flight reports striking drone while landing at JFK

A JetBlue Airways pilot reported hitting a drone as the flight was on approach for landing at JFK Airport on Monday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The plane, which was coming from Las Vegas, landed safely, and the airline and FAA said no damage or evidence of collision was found during the post-flight inspections.

The drone hit the JetBlue plane right above the cockpit and at about 3,000 feet, the pilot told an air traffic controller. The audio was recorded and obtained from ATC.com.

"We collided with a drone back there in the turn as we were coming to ASALT, just wanted to pass to you," the pilot tells an air traffic controller, referencing the waypoint for flights arriving in the New York City area.

ATC audio

Source: https://x.com/fl360aero/status/2071666599522926777

 

[Mendel]

JetBlue flight reports striking drone while landing at JFK

https://abcnews.com/US/jetblue-flight-hits-drone-landing-jfk-officials/story?id=134313280

Both the FAA and JetBlue said inspections found no evidence of a strike.

Why did you leave that out?

 

[Mendel]

Official source

Source: https://x.com/FAANews/status/2071639136897823000

The pilot of JetBlue Airlines Flight 948 reported striking a drone at approximately 3,000 feet altitude while on final approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport around 7:15 a.m. local time on Monday, June 29. A post-flight inspection did not reveal any damage to the aircraft. The FAA will investigate.

 

[Mendel]

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU948/history/20260630/0709Z/KLAS/KJFK

The aircraft was going about 200 mph at the time, so the pilots would hardly have gotten a good look at it.
For all we know, it could've been a party balloon, reflecting the early morning sunlight.
If it was a drone, hitting the aircraft at 200 mph would've at least left some scratches in the paint and rendered the drone inoperable.

 

[RobertBillyBob]

Why did you leave that out?

 

[Mendel]

View attachment 91843

I stand corrected.
In my defense, the article actually leads with that information:

 

[MapperGuy]

Far more information from the pilots is needed.
Did they hear an impact, or feel it?
Where did the drone impact the aircraft? Did it hit the windshield directly in from of them or at a wingtip?
Or was this a case of "it appeared we would hit it" but they did not actually see it impact some part of the aircraft? If they did see it hit they could have told the FAA where to look on the aircraft for the evidence of impact, so I would guess not. Of course the FAA may not be revealing all details.
Trying to figure out incidents like this from early reports in the media is a guessing game.
I would not be surprised if they saw/hit a drone given the location, some fool looking for exciting video to post on-line.