Another "close" call

[Acroduster]

The reporting in this article is preposterous from a pilot's perspective, but the general public does not know that...

Plane forced to make evasive manoeuvre to avoid smashing into drone

 

[Maddog]

Preposterous for sure!
1) Pretty high for a drone- how many can really fly that high?
2) By the time the co-pilot saw and reacted to the drone they would have blown past it- approach speed must be around 150 kts.

 

[Chuck]

5,500 ft. is high for a drone. I am sure it can be done, but it would be an idiot doing it. Just what we all needed is another black eye....

 

[Acroduster]

My deal is that with a 3 degree glide slope, at 5500 ft, he is about 20 miles from the airport. He is NOT on final. Also, 5 meters from the wing? Who measured that one? At almost 200kts? And the evasive maneuver? Most of us know how small our drones appear at 1 mile away. We know which direction to look to find it. Think if you were just looking out of the window how hard it would be to pick it up? At 200kts, the plane will be on it in 16 seconds. Not a whole lot of time to acquire it, realize what it is, decide on evasive action, initiate the evasive action, and actually have the airliner respond to the inputs.