A United Airlines Boeing 737 collided with a small, shiny red drone at approximately 3,000 feet while approaching San Diego on Wednesday morning. Flight 1980, which departed San Francisco at 6:53 a.m. PST, landed safely with no reported injuries or damage to the aircraft.
Incident Overview
The flight carried 48 passengers and six crew members. United Airlines confirmed the pilot reported a possible drone strike shortly before landing. Maintenance crews inspected the plane thoroughly and found no issues, allowing passengers to deplane normally at the gate.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acknowledges the report and has launched an investigation into the midair encounter.
Pilot’s Radio Exchange
Audio from the air traffic control exchange captures the pilot alerting ground control: “We hit a drone. At around, probably, at around 3000ft, about.”
The dispatcher inquired about details: “Do you have like an approximate size or how many engines or style or anything like that?” The pilot replied, “It was so small, I couldn’t tell. It was red. It was shiny.” The exchange referenced a position off runway 27 at Broadway Robin.
Regulatory Context
FAA regulations prohibit drone operations above 400 feet without special authorization. Drone pilots must also steer clear of restricted airspace near airports. Social media users have raised concerns about how the drone reached such an altitude, with one X post stating: “No off the shelf consumer drone can get to 3000 ft. I’ll be very interested to see how this investigation plays out.”
Broadening Drone Risks
Midair drone-plane collisions remain uncommon but are on the rise. An Associated Press analysis shows drones accounted for nearly two-thirds of reported near-misses with commercial jets during takeoff and landing at the nation’s 30 busiest airports in 2024.
This incident underscores ongoing aviation safety challenges in populated airspace.
