Drone Nearly Hit Air Force One Carrying President Trump
Multiple witnesses say a drone came too close for comfort with Air Force One as it headed toward a touchdown in Washington last night. The specially outfitted Boeing 747-200B was approaching an airport near Washington when several on board saw the object, which most seem to agree was a drone.
Air Force One was on the final approach for landing. That’s when several passengers on board noticed a drone off the plane’s right side. The object sighted was yellow and black and shaped like a cross, according to a Bloomberg News report. The incident occurred shortly before the plane touched down at 5:54 p.m. local time Sunday. Along with certain support staff, journalists tend to accompany the President on Air Force One. AFP White House Correspondent Sebastian Smith was on board and tweeted about the incident just minutes after arrival:
Close call
If that was a drone — and we say this because there have been cases where others have misidentified balloons and other objects in the sky as drones — then that’s a serious problem. Flying a drone in the corridors where manned aircraft fly is very much against the law except in extraordinary circumstances. And we can think of no circumstances when a drone would be permitted to fly in the direct landing path of Air Force One.
In reporting the story, Bloomberg contacted NORAD — the North American Aerospace Defence Command — which monitors air traffic for security threats in North America. Bloomberg says it referred questions to the Secret Service, which had no comment. Bloomberg says the FAA referred the matter to the US Air Force.
Danger in the sky?
Those in the manned aviation field, with justification, are concerned about the damage that a drone could cause to an aircraft. Though the verdict is still out on what would happen if a drone hit a passenger jet, we have seen incidents where drones have caused damage to aircraft — including a military helicopter. And few would argue that drones should be allowed to fly in the same corridors as manned aircraft except with very strong protocols to ensure they won’t come into conflict with one another.
People who saw Sebastien Smith’s Tweet were stunned to hear the news, with one suggesting Air Force One should be equipped for this kind of potential issue. That’s certainly not unreasonable, given that the heavily modified aircraft contains many other countermeasures for threats in the sky:
Drones and Presidents make news
The last time that a drone and a US President crossed paths, Barack Obama was in the White House. It was early 2015 and someone flew a Phantom directly onto the White House lawn. And that was big news.
No Fly Zones
The world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI, has software built-in that, in theory, prevents its products from flying where they should not. There are ways around this, and a pilot often is given the opportunity to override the factory settings and accept personal responsibility for the flight. It’s hard to imagine that anyone would do that and then deliberately fly near Air Force One.
But we don’t know anything about the alleged drone. We don’t know a brand — only a vague description of a cross-shape and yellow and black coloring. (Of course, many owners modify their drones with various skins and even paint jobs.) So what was this drone? Was it even a drone? We weren’t there, but we tend to think if multiple witnesses said it was a drone, it probably was.
Remote ID
It’s a topic for another day, but this will undoubtedly fuel the fire for those who’d like to see a comprehensive Remote ID scheme in place for drones. This would allow those in law enforcement to remotely identify the brand and model of drone, as well as (theoretically) the identity of the pilot.
We will update this…
At the moment, we don’t know much more. We are placing calls to the FAA and Secret Service in the hope of pulling in some more information. When we know more, you’ll know more.
Scott Simmie
