United Airlines Pilot Reports Drone Flying At 7000 ft. 8 Miles Northeast of Logan Intl. Airport.

Here's the link: WCVB.com

BOSTON —The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the reported sighting of a drone by a pilot on approach to Logan Airport Saturday afternoon.

United Airlines flight 1087 was landing after a flight from Chicago when the pilot reported seeing the drone at about 4:20 p.m.

The flight was at an altitude of 7,000 feet, eight miles northeast of the airport, the FAA said.

There isn't a whole lot of information on this incident, but I was wondering exactly what kind of drone this guy witnessed.

I'll post if I find more, but my wife pointed this story out to me.

a reply to: ProfessorChaos

7000 feet is too high for commercial drones. Range is good for about 2000 ft

originally posted by: FlySolo
a reply to: ProfessorChaos

7000 feet is too high for commercial drones. Range is good for about 2000 ft

So, if the pilot's facts are straight, this couldn't be a commercial drone, right?

a reply to: FlySolo

It's not to high for autonomous flight, like arduPilot/Arduino controlled drones. A quadcopter would use up too much energy getting up there, but a fixed wing could , flying a pre-programmed flight. It does not require radio contact back to the laptop until it completes it's last leg and locates it.

originally posted by: FlySolo
a reply to: ProfessorChaos

7000 feet is too high for commercial drones. Range is good for about 2000 ft

There are dozens of high end commercial drones (and even more with range extender attachments) that can reach a 2km operating distance with stock equipment. 2km being ~6500 feet. I would say that it is within the realm of possibility that this was merely a high end hobbyist drone.

a reply to: FlySolo

7000 feet is too high for commercial drones. Range is good for about 2000 ft

Are you sure?

The Pocket Drone can fly over 5,000 feet from where the pilot is standing, and theoretically can fly up to approximately 11,000 feet.

www.thepocketdrone.com...

Stephen Morris, president of MLB Company, stands next to the Super Bat UAS at the 2014 Precision Aerial Ag Show in Decatur, Ill. The Super Bat UAS can reach altitudes of 10,000 feet and survey 55,000 acres of crops in one day.

investigatemidwest.org...

The pilots of a regional airliner flying at about 10,000 feet reported seeing at least one drone pass less than 500 feet above the plane, moving slowly to the south toward Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. The drone was described as black and gray with a thin body, about 5 feet to 6 feet long.

www.bostonglobe.com...

originally posted by: FlySolo
a reply to: ProfessorChaos

7000 feet is too high for commercial drones. Range is good for about 2000 ft

This one built in 1973 can apparently reach 14,700 feet. Perhaps that's only for military drones though?

I am waiting for the first commercial airliner - drone crash incident or at least an engine ingesting a small drone.

Trusting people to be responsible? We know how that often turns out.

Sad that this is my hobby and I would never do that or condone it..

Pretty soon I will just have memories of my flying days..

And several TriCopters, QuadCopters and HexaCopters..

Hanging from my hobby room ceiling....

Because some people just don't have any sense... /facepalm!

a reply to: Phage

That is really amazing how far and the height they can reach.. I wonder if there's been a Guinness record booked by these craft. .?

a reply to: Phage

Correct. DJI Phantom can reach 4K feet. For under 2K.

Plenty of videos on Youtube.




Another at 14K feet Max range of the controller.

originally posted by: baddmove
Sad that this is my hobby and I would never do that or condone it..

Pretty soon I will just have memories of my flying days..

And several TriCopters, QuadCopters and HexaCopters..

Hanging from my hobby room ceiling....

Because some people just don't have any sense... /facepalm!

Mine as well. Like most exciting and educational hobbies, some will always exploit them in ways that are absolutely irresponsible and dangerous to others.

a reply to: charlyv

Got to make sure we follow the rules.


www.faa.gov...

Those FAA rules are funny and ignored by everyone. lots of people make money from their drones just look at most real-estate listings and you tube. A local guy makes all kind of videos and puts disclaimers at the end. I had to remind him the nice beach and lighthouse he was filming was only 3/4 mile from the airport after he noted the 3 mile exclusion zone in his video.