The pilot of a United Airlines plane heading to San Diego International Airport on Wednesday morning reported seeing a drone flying around 1,000 feet below the Boeing 737 as he came in for a landing — but he did not strike the drone, the airline clarified.
The airline initially sent out a statement saying that United Flight 1980 “reported a possible drone strike” just prior to arriving in San Diego. Around 1:30 p.m., United sent out a revised statement that deleted the word “strike.”
“United flight 1980 reported a potential drone prior to arriving in San Diego. The flight landed safely, and customers deplaned normally at the gate. Our maintenance team found no damage after thoroughly inspecting the aircraft.”
The confusion over whether the plane hit a drone or was just near a drone apparently stems from radio communication between the pilot and ground control.
Audio of the pilot’s communication was posted on X. On the recording, the pilot can be heard saying, “We hit a drone at around probably around 3,000 feet. Yeah, uh, around on our base leg… a red drone heading west.”
The controller asked about the size and style of the drone and how many engines it had, but the pilot was unable to provide much detail.
He replied that the drone was “so small” and appeared to be red and “shiny.”
“That’s fine, thank you,” the air traffic controller said.
Flight 1980 had departed San Francisco at 6:53 a.m. and landed just before 8:30 a.m., according to Flightview.com. The plane was carrying 48 passengers and six crewmembers.
Federal Aviation Administration officials were notified of the incident. The FAA said an air traffic control alerted other pilots flying in the area but did not receive any additional reports of a drone being seen.
“While approaching San Diego International Airport at about 4,000 feet altitude, the crew of United Airlines Flight 1980 told air traffic control they believed they saw a drone 1,000 feet below them,” the FAA statement said. “Air traffic control alerted other pilots but did not receive any additional drone-sighting reports.”
Under FAA regulations, recreational drones cannot be flown higher than 400 feet and no drones can be flown near airports without authorization.
