11 ms·
> The sky is an enormous place and the odds of two things occupying the same space in it without trying to are once in a century if that. Not near an airport.
by everdev 8y ago
> The sky is an enormous place and the odds of two things occupying the same space in it without trying to are once in a century if that.
Not near an airport. Planes takeoff and land in extremely predictable patterns. And at about the same height as drones typically operate.
I think you're thinking of a meteorite hitting an airplane, which yes is probably extremely rare.
- azinman2 8y agoNo to mention that birds strike 13k planes a year in the US alone. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_strike https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_strike
- jarfil 8y agoI wouldn't call "five miles away from the nearest airport" to be near an airport.
- JshWright 8y agoFive miles off the end of the runway a landing plane is only ~1,500ft above the ground. That's higher than the legal ceiling for drones, but it's certainly well within their technical capabilities.
- heelix 8y agoAs a pilot, I would. Most of the bug smashers I rent will be flying around 90-120 nautical miles per hour, so 5 miles out puts you 2-3 minutes from the field. Within one minute or so you better be setting up for landings, usually dropping to 1000' AGL thereabouts. A fair bit of traffic in a 5 mile zone when towered.
- nonfamous 8y ago> I think you're thinking of a meteorite hitting an airplane, which yes is probably extremely rare. Not as rare as you might think: for one airplane yes, but there are many planes and many meteorites. There’s a 5% chance a plane, somewhere, gets hit in the next 20 years: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2009/06/04/did-a-meteor-bring-down-air-france-447/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2009/06/04/...