Transport Minister Said Object 'May Have Been A Plastic Bag'

A report of a drone possibly colliding with a British Airways A320 on approach to Heathrow nearly broke the Internet. There were tons of breathless stories and offers to media outlets for "experts" to discuss the "problem."

As Ojai, CA taxidermist Chuck Testa might say ...

"NOPE!"

The U.K. newspaper The Telegraph now reports that Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said Thursday that there had been no confirmation that a UAV had come in contact with the airplane. In fact, it may have been a plastic bag.

Yes, one of those ubiquitous lightweight plastic bags you can get at nearly every grocery store may have been carried aloft by the wind, and blown into the path of the airliner at 1,700 feet.

Goodwill said in a statement that the reported drone strike had not been confirmed. "It was the local police force that tweeted that they had a report of a drone striking an aircraft.

"And indeed the early reports of a dent in the front of the plane were not confirmed - there was no actual damage to the plane and there's indeed some speculation that it may have even been a plastic bag or something."

Goodwill went on to say that at the current time, he did not see the need for more government regulations concerning drone use. "There are already existing laws in place that require the user of drones to maintain direct unaided visual contact with their vehicle and not to recklessly or negligently permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property," he said.

"So this instance that we've read about and is alleged were already breaking existing legislation and the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are working with a wide range of industry partners across the sector, including manufacturers, airports and airlines to ensure our understanding of potential hazards to aircrafts remains up-to-date."

The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch is still looking into the reported drone strike, according to the report.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/air-accidents-investigation-branch