It has been reported by multiple sources, including Breaking Aviation News & Videos and AviationSource News that an Emirates Airbus 380 (A380) flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Nice, France, collided with a suspected drone during landing.

The collision between the suspected drone and the A380 registered as A6-EOM, resulted in damage to a section of the leading edge slats. According to reports, the airline replaced the damaged parts at the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport on August 20, 2023.

FlightRadar24 data for the flight from Dubai to Nice.
FlightRadar24 Flight History for A6-EOM on August 18, 2023 (Image Credit: FlightRadar24)

 

According to Aviation A2Z, Emirates received A6-EOM from Airbus in August 2015, following the aircraft’s inaugural flight on March 10, 2015, according to data from ch-aviation.com records.

Subsequently, the aircraft has accumulated 29,829 flight hours (FH) and 3,061 flight cycles (FC). Between March 2020 and May 2021, the aircraft underwent a storage phase, during which ch-aviation.com data indicates no recorded flight hours or flight cycles.

As the airspace becomes more crowded with both crewed and uncrewed aircraft, these occurrences will, unfortunately, become more common. A recent report was issued titled Three Case Studies on Small Uncrewed Aerial Systems Near Midair Collisions with Aircraft: An Evidence-Based Approach for Using Objective Uncrewed Aerial Systems Detection Technology.

The case study findings inform on uncrewed aerial system-aircraft encounter evolution and trends, including encounter risk, lateral and vertical encounter separation distances, sUAS operator compliance with operational and altitude restrictions, and comparisons of objective detection data against sUAS sighting reports. Recommendations are provided to mitigate risks associated with encounter trends to enhance safety within the NAS.

Post Image- An Emirates Airbus A380-800 aircraft near New York’s JFK airport (Image Credit: Adobe Stock by Markus Mainka)