Overview
- United Flight 1980, which was arriving Wednesday morning in San Diego, reported striking a small red object the pilot called a drone at about 3,000 feet, according to tower audio shared online.
- The Boeing 737 flew from San Francisco with 48 passengers and six crew, and it landed normally with no injuries.
- United said a post-flight inspection found no damage, and the airline has not confirmed that an actual collision occurred.
- The FAA said the crew reported seeing a drone roughly 1,000 feet below the jet at about 4,000 feet, and controllers received no other drone-sighting reports.
- Investigators will review recordings and flight data to identify the object, since drones over 400 feet or in airport airspace require FAA authorization and reports of near-misses around major airports have been rising.