Dec. 14 (UPI) — Aviation officials have launched an investigation into whether a drone crashed into a Boeing 737 jetliner at the U.S. border while approaching Tijuana, Mexico.
On Wednesday the nose of the Mexican Aeromexico Flight 773 broke off as the plane approached the Tijuana Airport.
“The exact cause is still being investigated,” Aeromexico said in a statement obtained by The Mercury News. “The aircraft landed normally and the passengers’ safety was never compromised.”
The flight originated from Guadalajara before reportedly veering into a flight-restricted area at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The first known crash with a drone and a plane happened in 2017, over Quebec City in Canada. A drone collided with a commercial flight, denting one wing before safely landing.
That same year, the National Transportation Safety Board investigated a drone collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Staten Island, New York.
A Federal Aviation Administration report based on computer simulations show that a drone would cause greater damage to a plane than a bird.
