A springtime family outing at a park on Saturday led to an emergency response by police after their child’s kite struck an airplane.
No one was injured when the kite collided with an airplane attempting to land at Reagan National Airport in Virginia, but police briefly confiscated the kite and warned of the dangers of flying kites in the area. A child and two adults were reportedly flying the kite at a park located just a few hundred feet away from the airport on the afternoon of March 29.
“Police officers responded to reports of kite-flying at Gravelly Point yesterday, an activity which is not allowed in that area due to the danger to low-flying aircraft,” read a statement from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, per Fox News.
A witness to the incident, travel analyst Jamie Larounis, told NBC that he was at Gravelly Point on Saturday and saw 10 or more kites flying in the area near the path of the airport’s main runway. He said he saw a green “run-of-the-mill kid’s kite” that “got progressively higher and higher.”
The kite reportedly struck the approaching United Airlines plane between the engine and fuselage. That is when Louranis called the police, concerned that the collision may have damaged the plane.
The airport police reportedly responded with emergency lights and sirens activated and proceeded to interview the family involved. The kite was confiscated for a short time before it was returned to its owners, and no charges were filed in the incident.
Following the collision with the kite, United Airlines Flight 654, which had departed from Houston, landed safely at the airport. After the passengers deplaned, the aircraft was inspected, but no damage was found, according to a statement from United Airlines.
Dylan Oakes, a television producer and former flight attendant who witnessed the collision at Gravelly Point on Saturday, believes the situation could have ended much differently.
“It could be serious; … planes shouldn’t be coming into contact with anything. This kite could have been ingested into an engine, the engine could have possibly failed,” Oakes said, per the New York Post. “You’re in a critical phase of flight on the approach.”
Federal regulations prohibit kite flying near airports and prohibit users from flying them higher than 500 feet.
The Blossom Kite Festival was underway at the National Mall, located just across the Potomac River from Gravelly Point, at the same time, but it was not connected to any of the activities at Gravelly Point.