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Comment by lutorm | Hacker News Reader

Given that aircraft fly faster (in the case of large aircraft, a lot faster) than these drones, the article's choice of words that makes it sound like the drones "buzz" aircraft seems pretty misleading. It's the aircraft that fly into the drones, not the other way around.

The real issue isn't what the drones do, it's that they're around at all, because the speeds and sizes involved makes it very difficult to see and avoid them whatever they do. In that sense, they're not that different from birds.

There sure are a lot more birds than drones, but on the other hand I'm not sure what the relative effect on a small aircraft from the impact of a (relatively soft) bird versus a (hard) drone is.

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Birds aren't soft at those speeds. Ultimately for both it boils down to weight (or mass if you'd prefer). In both cases the larger heavier object (aircraft) will move the smaller lighter one (birds, drones) out of its path. But damage may be done along the way.

It is possible that the components could damage the inside of a jet engine, but bird bits (inc. bone) don't exactly do jet engines any favours so...

Drones might have actual metal components as well as LiPo batteries, though ...

And a canada goose will cause a contained failure of a CFM56 turboprop the likes of which (or equivalents) equip most B737s and A320s. The miracle on the Hudson was an A320 hitting a flock of geese on take off.

The good news is that for most passenger planes, a drone ingest would be unlikely to do more than take out an engine or smash the cockpit windows. Both severe issues but issues which an airliner can be expected to survive.

That said, a CFM56 engine costs somewhere around 5-10m dollars. So how do you find the drone's owner to bill them for it?

ITYM turbofan.

Indeed, was a brain fart.

Birds are very different from drones in the sense that birds often practice active collision avoidance, at least in the case of encounters with a small aircraft. I have often seen birds take evasive maneuvers when a collision is imminent, much more quickly than I could have as the pilot of the aircraft. Drones at this point have no sense of self preservation when faced with a collision with an aircraft and are therefore in my opinion much more dangerous.

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