Envoy E175 struck drone during climb-out from Chicago O’Hare

US authorities have disclosed that an Envoy Air Embraer 175 appeared to collide with an unmanned aerial vehicle while departing from Chicago O’Hare. The US FAA states, in a preliminary notification, that the aircraft “struck a UAS” – an unmanned aircraft system – during a climbing left turn, as it took off from runway 09C for Detroit on 22 August. Air-ground communications show the crew of a JetBlue Embraer 190, departing the same runway for Boston about 1min before the Envoy service, notified Chicago tower controllers of a “drone” in the area. The JetBlue crew told the controller that they saw a drone “right over that pond” to their left at about 1,000ft as the aircraft crossed a highway after take-off. This pond is likely to be either Peterson or Axehead lake, which both lie adjacent to interstate 294, off the end of runway 09C. After the Envoy E175 took off, the controller asked its pilots whether they had also seen a drone on departure. Story has details.<br/>