A drone collided with a commercial aircraft in Canada last week — the first time such a crash has happened in North America, transportation officials said.
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau confirmed Thursday’s crash near the Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City in a statement on Sunday, saying he was “extremely relieved” that the Skyjet plane on its final descent only sustained minor damage.
“This should not have happened,” Garneau told reporters during a press conference in Montreal, according to the CBC. “That drone should not have been there.”
Garneau estimated that the crash happened about three miles from the airport at an altitude of roughly 1,500 feet. No injuries to the eight people aboard the plane that originated in Quebec were reported, but the incident “could have been much more serious” or even “catastrophic” if the drone crashed into the plane’s cockpit or engine, Garneau said.
“It’s important to note that aircraft are particularly vulnerable when on final approach coming in – the pilot is concentrating on landing properly,” Garneau said.
The crash marked the first collision between a commercial aircraft and a drone in Canada, Garneau said. And while there have been reports of pilots claiming that drones crashed into their aircraft in the United States, FAA officials confirmed to The Post that such a crash has never been verified in the United States.
“There have been no incidents or accidents reported to the FAA that have involved a commercial aircraft and an unmanned aircraft (drone),” spokesman Jim Peters told The Post in an email.
The federal agency announced in February that it had never verified reports of collisions between drones and civil aircraft, saying that every subsequent investigation found that the crashes either involved birds, other items such as wires and posts, or structural failure not related to colliding with an unmanned aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced that it will investigate a Sept. 21 crash involving an Army helicopter and a drone that was illegally flying over New York’s Staten Island as the United Nations was in session. The drone damaged the helicopter’s rotor blade, but the uninjured pilot was able to land safely at an airport in New Jersey.
