The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Friday that an unmanned drone came too close to a Southwest Airlines Flight in the skies over Dallas.
FAA officials reported that the “drone came within a few hundred feet of the left wing” of Flight 28 out of Houston.
An air traffic controller in the Love Field Air Traffic Control Tower in Dallas spotted the drone and alerted the pilots. “No evasive action” was taken by the pilot.
Authorities sent a helicopter to search for the unmanned ariel vehicle, but the crew did not find the device.
Pilots of large aircrafts worry about these drones because they can easily be sucked into an engine or smash into a cockpit window.
Near misses between drones and planes are growing. Last year, a jet almost collided with a drone in Florida. And it isn’t just the US experiencing the problem; investigators at London’s Heathrow also reported a near collision last year.
In November of 2014, the FAA reported that near misses with drones and airplanes have surged as the small machines grow in popularity.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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