Kite confiscated after coming in contact with a jet near Washington

The police confiscated a kite on Saturday after it was flown near airplanes landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, according to the airport police, and after a witness said he saw it make contact with a landing plane. United Airlines said that it “was aware of reports” that a kite had been in the path of Flight 654 from Houston. “The aircraft landed safely, customers deplaned normally and upon inspection there was no damage to the aircraft,” United said. Officers with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department received reports on Saturday of a kite flying at Gravelly Point, a park just north of an airport runway, Emily McGee, a spokeswoman for the department, said on Sunday. Gravelly Point is a part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and is overseen by the National Park Service. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Kite flying is barred at the park because of the low-flying aircraft in the area. Officers “briefly confiscated” a kite on Saturday, McGee said. “That kite was returned to its owner shortly later, and no charges were filed,” McGee said. It was not immediately known how high the kite was flying or what kind of kite was confiscated. The FAA said on Sunday that it did not have a report about the kite. Jamie Larounis, a travel industry analyst, said in an interview on Sunday that he had reported the kite to the airport police after seeing it make contact with the plane on Saturday while he was walking home from the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington.<br/>