“United Airlines Boeing 737-800 N78501 (1)” by BriYYZ, CC BY-SA 2.0
A United Airlines passenger jet traveling from San Francisco to San Diego reportedly struck what the pilot described as a “red” and “shiny” object while descending toward the airport Wednesday morning, with multiple reports indicating it may have been a drone flying thousands of feet above legal limits.
According to reports, United Flight 1980, a Boeing 737-800, was on final approach at roughly 3,000 feet when the pilot radioed air traffic control after the apparent impact.
When asked to identify the object, the pilot reportedly said:
“It was so small… It was red. It was shiny.”
The aircraft landed safely at San Diego International Airport around 8:28 a.m. with 48 passengers and six crew members onboard. No injuries were reported. United later stated its maintenance team inspected the plane and found no visible damage.
The Mirror US reported:
Audio of the incident was captured by the ATC App. “Ground 1980, you know off of runway 27 at Broadway Robin?” asks the dispatcher. “We hit a drone. At around probably at around 3000 ft, about.”
“Do you have like an approximate size or how many engines or style or anything like that?” the dispatcher asks. “It was so small,” answers the United Airlines pilot. “I couldn’t tell. It was red. It was shiny.” It comes after another pilot uttered four chilling words before a plane crash that killed 146 on board.
No damage to the plane or injuries from the incident have been reported.
Actual collisions between commercial planes and drones are exceedingly rare, with 7 confirmed cases of direct in-flight contact worldwide as of early 2018, but reported close encounters (“near misses”) are rising rapidly, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
NEW: Drone strike reported in San Diego, California, on a Boeing 737 jumbo jet operated by United Airlines.
According to officials, the drone hit the plane at about 3000 feet as it was coming in for a landing from San Francisco.
“United Flight 1980 reported a possible drone… pic.twitter.com/fNZA8FIKhX
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 29, 2026
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