Posted on 08/19/2020 6:49:21 PM PDT by Seizethecarp
The Air Force's 89th Airlift Wing is reviewing a report after people traveling aboard Air Force One on Sunday saw an object that appeared to be a drone as the plane was landing at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
"We were making the approach, but not yet in the final landing run. I saw a thing with a kind of X shape and part of it was yellow. That's all I can say," a witness told CNN.
"This was a brief moment, obviously, but not flashing by," the witness said. "I had long enough to do a double take, then wonder if my eyes were playing tricks on me, and then decide that yes, this was definitely something in the air and only a short distance below and a bit off to the side of our plane."
If a drone were to have come close to Air Force One, that would be a major security breach. Drones are banned in the restricted national security airspace around Washington.
"The matter is under review. The 89th Airlift Wing's C-32A aircraft landed safely without incident," the statement said.
The White House declined to comment.
The witness said the person seated behind them also observed the object, and turned around to ask if they had also seen it.
A US official who could not be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue told CNN there is a sensor system at Joint Base Andrews that would have, or should have, detected an unauthorized airborne object. They have gone back through the initial feeds and the computers don't show anything. They are continuing to investigate.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
The 757 could be much more vulnerable to a single drone strike knocking out one turbofan during final approach.
See discussion in earlier thread:
"Air Force One Just Had A Near Miss With A Drone According To Reporter Onboard"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3875304/posts?page=69
And of course the mediapukes are giddy over it!
Does anyone doubt that the deep state is trying to knock Trump off? They’ve do everything but.
Even if it is true, CNN as the source? CNN????
Anyone on AF 1 talking to a lowly, despicable CNN reporter deserves to be thrown off the plane.
Well before it lands.
Not kidding.
Not sure about that
757 can fly on one engine
Less stuff to be debris, its not like one engine hit hits the second engine on the same wing on a 747
757 is a bit more agile than the 747 as well
Drones can also be part of the security force.
That’s good to know. He needs a huge security force. All hand picked! He needs people like Clint Eastwood in that older movie-can’t remember that name of it right off hand.
And WHO BTW is the head of the “DEEP STATE”.
In the Line of Fire?
Clint, Renee Russo, John Malkovich...
Good thread on the drone here.
Follow the money.
That’s right! Watched it on hulu a couple months ago. Good movie.
That was a good flick.
It came out right around the same time as another good flick...The Fugitive.
“757 can fly on one engine”
As discussed in the other thread, if one engine gets knocked off the wing, the airframe becomes unstable. This has been the experience in bird strike and other situations where the turbofan explodes and goes off the pylon. Several 747 and 2-engine wide-bodies have been lost due the bird strikes when thrust on one side of the airframe is lost on a plane that is supposed to fly with loss of one turbofan.
Drone strikes, intentional or accidental, could be expected to be similar or worse due to very hard parts in some drones compared to birds.
I also thought of the comparison to “bird strikes”. But modern turbofan engines can take a hit — at least by a single bird — so I think a small X-wing quad copter would be similarly shrugged off.
The miracle on the Hudson River? There I think Sulzberger’s plane hit a flock of migrating birds. I may be wrong, but where ducks & geese are involved at that time of year you’re seldom looking at a single strike.
A quick search shows Virginia Tech has done some detailed simulations showing how an 8 lb drone can destroy a turbofan. They conclude that turbofans need to be redesigned to handle this risk!
https://www.uasvision.com/2015/11/09/drone-strikes-could-cause-jet-engine-failure/
Better story says FAA is using Virginia Tech to do the reseach and has two simulated videos of crashes of 8 lbs and 4 lbs drones into turbofans.
A deliberate attack on POTUS could easily employ a drone in excess of 8 lbs.
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