Kite reportedly made contact with United flight near Reagan National Airport: airline
In a statement to Nexstar's WDCW, United Airlines said it is aware of reports that a kite struck United Flight 654, which departed from Houston for Washington, D.C.
However, the airline added that 'the aircraft landed safely, customers deplaned normally and upon inspection, there was no damage to the aircraft.'
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), whose police department patrols Reagan National (DCA) and Dulles International airports, said that its officers had responded to reports of kite-flying that day at Gravelly Point.
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Gravelly Point, a park across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is just a few hundred feet away from the north end of DCA's runway. People are not allowed to fly kites there because of 'the danger of low-flying aircraft,' according to the MWAA.
Upon responding to the park, the airport's authority said officers briefly confiscated a kite flying in the restricted air space.
'That kite was returned to its owner shortly later and no charges were filed,' said Emily McGee, a spokesperson for the MWAA.
Officers also warned people about flying kites in the area.
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Across the Potomac on the National Mall, National Cherry Blossom Festival organizers held the annual Blossom Kite Festival on Saturday to celebrate cherry blossom season. According to organizers, the kite festival was unrelated to the kite-flying activity at Gravelly Point.
The reported incident comes just two months after an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided above the Potomac River near DCA, killing 67 people.
On Friday, a Delta Air Lines Flight preparing to leave Ronald Reagan and an incoming military jet received instructions to divert and prevent a possible collision, officials said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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