A UPS cargo jet climbing out of Louisville hit something at 5,000 feet in late July, and the crew told air traffic control it was probably a drone or a balloon. Neither pilot got a good look at it. One of them added that whatever they hit, it definitely was not a bird.
Five days later, UPS said it was a bird. The crew found the remains on the airframe after landing in Milwaukee, and an inspection turned up no damage.
I have spent nine years watching this sequence run. A startled crew reaches for “drone” on the radio, the word travels, and the answer arrives later to a much smaller room. This one resolved faster and more cleanly than most, with physical evidence on the aircraft. It still has not caught up.
UPS Confirmed A Bird Strike Five Days After The Drone Report
UPS Flight 5542, an Airbus A300-600 freighter bound for Milwaukee, struck an object climbing out of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on a Friday in late July. A UPS spokesperson confirmed the following Wednesday that the aircraft had hit a bird and that no damage was found…