Air Force One Just Had A Near Miss With A Drone According To Reporter Onboard

[dufus]

 

Reports are emerging describing a potential near miss with an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) while the C-32A that President Trump was flying on was making its final approach into Andrews Air Force base on Sunday evening. POTUS was returning from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster New Jersey when the reported near miss took place. 

 

AFP's Sebastian Smith reported on the incident shortly after disembarking the highly modified 757-200, stating: 

 

"@realDonaldTrump just landed at Andrews on AF1. Shortly before, while descending, we flew right over a small object, remarkably close to the president’s plane. Resembled a drone though I’m no expert."

 

Multiple people on AF1 saw what appeared to be a drone just below the plane as we were descending toward Joint Base Andrews.

 

We came very close to hitting it, per @SebastianAFP, who had a window seat. pic.twitter.com/WVbxT9ckG7

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 16, 2020

 

The FAA is pushing for new regulations on unmanned aircraft in order to better track and potentially prosecute those who use the craft outside of the rules or for nefarious purposes.

 

Meanwhile, many say such a move won't do anything to actually stop these incidents from occurring and other measures that are less invasive could do more good. 

 

The fact that a drone can come so close to the world's highest-profile and most heavily monitored and defended variant of a commercial aircraft is troubling for obvious reasons. As we have said for many years, one of the biggest threats posed by lower-end drones is to VVIPs, and especially when they are on the move. 

 

We have reached out to the 89th Airlift Wing for more information on the incident, we will update this post if new details come available in the coming hours.

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