Envoy E175 mid-air strike involved a balloon, not a drone
An Envoy Air regional jet that reportedly hit a drone while in flight on 22 August did not hit a drone after all. Rather, it struck a balloon. That is according to the FAA, which has now corrected an earlier statement about the in-flight collision, which involved an Embraer 175 and occurred shortly after the jet took off from Chicago O’Hare International airport. “The FAA determined the object was a Mylar balloon,” the US regulator says on 31 August. Neither Envoy nor parent American Airlines Group responded to a request for more information about the incident and resulting damage to the aircraft. Following the collision, the FAA said the aircraft “struck a UAS” – an unmanned aircraft system. The incident occurred as the aircraft was climbing and turning left after taking off from O’Hare’s Runway 09C.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-09-01/unaligned/envoy-e175-mid-air-strike-involved-a-balloon-not-a-drone
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Envoy E175 mid-air strike involved a balloon, not a drone
An Envoy Air regional jet that reportedly hit a drone while in flight on 22 August did not hit a drone after all. Rather, it struck a balloon. That is according to the FAA, which has now corrected an earlier statement about the in-flight collision, which involved an Embraer 175 and occurred shortly after the jet took off from Chicago O’Hare International airport. “The FAA determined the object was a Mylar balloon,” the US regulator says on 31 August. Neither Envoy nor parent American Airlines Group responded to a request for more information about the incident and resulting damage to the aircraft. Following the collision, the FAA said the aircraft “struck a UAS” – an unmanned aircraft system. The incident occurred as the aircraft was climbing and turning left after taking off from O’Hare’s Runway 09C.<br/>
