Here's What It Looks Like When a Drone Smashes Into a Plane Wing at 238 Mph

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Here's What It Looks Like When a Drone Smashes Into a Plane Wing at 238 Mph
By Peter Dockrill/ Tech/ Science Alert/ sciencealert.com

"This is not even a hypothetical situation.

When you're high above the clouds at cruising altitude in a giant passenger jet, probably the last thing on your mind is the threat of a mid-air collision with a drone.

But at take-off and landing, that danger isn't so distant. Last year, a drone did in fact collide with an in-flight US Army Black Hawk helicopter at Hoffman Island, New York. Nobody was hurt, but what if an impact like that happened with an aircraft travelling at much greater speed?

We've now got a scary vision of what that might look like, thanks to a team at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), who simulated the conditions of a mid-air collision between a drone and a commercial transport aircraft travelling at 383 kilometres per hour (238 mph).

Given it would be unfeasible and incredibly dangerous to test this with an actual flying aircraft, the researchers had to settle for using an air cannon, firing a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter at the wing of a Mooney M20, a small four-seater aircraft:...."


Richard

 

[klpca]

Well, that's terrifying.

 

[klpca]

duplicate. Computers are funny sometimes.

 

[breezez]

It looks a bit fake to me. Kind of like a computer simulation. I wonder how different it would have appeared if the wing was moving and DJI was stationary.

As a drone pilot, I don’t want to hit an aircraft... But the current rules are damn near impossible to follow. I live in Tampa metro area. I have the app, B4U fly from the FAA. While it lists all airports within 5 mile radius of your location that you must contact to fly. It provides no contact information. In the metro area there is basically no place you can fly a drone with out first calling air ports as the FAA’s rule on airport is any location a plane or helicopter may take off or land and you are always within 5 miles of one or more of these. This includes hospitals with helicopter pads, police or emergency services locations with helicopter pads, regular air ports, military air ports sea ports, and businesses with helicopter pads. In the metro area downtown you have to contact 15 plus airports if your going to fly.

While app gives you locations of airports it fails to give contact phone numbers. It can be difficult to find these numbers. Then when you do and you call them. You may get transferred several times as they try to get you with correct department. When you finally do get them you get the response okay why are you telling us.

Imagine calling Tampa International Airport and ask for air traffic tower or Mac Dill AB and ask for their tower or Tampa General Hospital and ask for theirs. It is a dawnting task.

Based on this difficulty most people never call, and they fail to realize the penalties if you cause damage to others.

The laws are ambiguous also. If you fly for personal use no commercial license is needed, however, if you take video or photos that are later used for commercial purpose you would be in violation of the law unless you have a commercial drone license.

National parks are the primary reason I wanted a drone. But you are not allowed to fly in them period, Let me rephrase you can’t take off or land from within the park, some parks such as Zion NP you could fly into with spotters and not be in violation, since some of the parks you could easily reach with drone launching/landing outside the park.

I agree I wouldn’t want to be in front of Mt. Rushmore or Old Faithful with hundreds of drones hovering around, but if you back pack into the back country I don’t see the issue. Some of the most majestic parts of the parks are only seen from deep inside the parks on trails or in back country. As far as major tourist sites. I think they should do a lottery system. A certain 1 hour day people could drone around common tourist sites, People could apply for permits to limit use and control time, NP collects money maybe something like Mt. Rushmore you limit to 15-20 peeps for that 1 hour.

 

[davidvel]

Not really a fair comparison of a little Mooney wing and a commercial airliner wing. Commercial airliners take hits to the wings by big chunks of ice and birds all the time. Yes damage is done, but not really on the scale of that Mooney wing.

Plenty of old aircraft wings in mothballs out in the desert. I suspect if they did this same test with one, the 2.5 pound drone would be dusted without much damage to the wing.

 

[klpca]

If I backpack up the JMT for two weeks the absolute last thing I want to hear is a drone hovering over me, so I hope that the NP's keep some places quiet for those of us who just want some quiet.

 

[pedro47]

IMHO, I dislike drones in the hands of private citizens. Drones are very dangerous and can be use as a mass weapon of destruction. This is my opinion and my concerns
only.

Please do not ask me to explain my post. This is my opinion only.