The alleged drone incidents took place over the weekend during the Download music festival at a nearby park. Supposedly three drones disrupted flights at the East Midlands airport. An investigation has been launched by detectives and one drone pilot has since been interviewed. We know from previous drone incidents that very often no proof of an actual drone has been provided, causing many industry insiders, including DJI, to warn people not to jump to conclusions. In this case, one drone pilot has bee interviewed. We will follow it closely to see if any drone evidence will surface.

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Remember the Aeromexico Boeing 737 that was hit by a drone? Yes? Well, it now turns out that it wasn’t. The Grupo Aeromexico SAB airliner that supposedly was hit by a drone last December was not hit by an unmanned aircraft at all. The damage to the radome or nosecone of the airplane resulted from a poorly executed repair, causing it to ‘likely’ collapse and crack as a result of changing air pressure during its descent near Tijuana, Mexico. Drones are often pointed to as the culprits but so far the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has only confirmed two cases.

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Last night a drone illegally flew over Fenway Park during a Red Sox-Blue Jays game. According to Boston Police, the drone was first spotted around 9:30 pm and was last seen around 10:20 pm. The Red Sox said that they have reported the incident to the Police. Both the police and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) are looking into the situation. Flying drones over crowds or over a packed stadium are against the FAA’s regulations. DJI issued a statement on the drone incident as well.

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According to safety experts, UK drone incidents rose more than a third in 2018. The UK Airprox board recorded 125 dangerously close encounters or drone incidents in 2018. This number is more a third higher than in 2017 when only 93 drone incidents were recorded. 71 incidents were recorded in 2016. It should come as no surprise that 39 of the 125 drone incidents occurred at the UK’s busiest airport Heathrow.

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One year ago, a micro-light airplane crash-landed in New-Zealand. The pilot of the airplane, Rod Vaughan, who also happens to be a journalist, had implied that a drone was to blame for the accident. At the time, the mainstream media ran with the story and continued to paint drones as the culprit. In this video, Bruce, also known as XJet on YouTube, explains how an investigation report from the Civil Aviation Authority of New-Zealand (CAA) now proofs his theory right. A drone did NOT bring down Vaughan’s airplane but a failed windscreen, due to prolonged exposure to high UV levels in New-Zealand, was to blame.

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Last Friday flights to and from Frankfurt Airport in Germany were briefly interrupted after a drone was spotted in the area. According to the Associated Press, operator FraPort halted takeoffs and landings at Germany’s busiest airport for 29 minutes as a precautionary measure late Friday afternoon. As with the recent drone scares at Gatwick, Heathrow, and Newark Airport, no evidence of any drones was provided by the Frankfurt Airport officials. It will be interesting to see if any proof will surface in the coming days.

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