Kite Confiscated After Coming in Contact With a Jet Near Washington
United Airlines said that it 'was aware of reports' that a kite had been in the path of Flight 654 from Houston.
'The aircraft landed safely, customers deplaned normally and upon inspection there was no damage to the aircraft,' United said.
Officers with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department received reports on Saturday of a kite flying at Gravelly Point, a park just north of an airport runway, Emily McGee, a spokeswoman for the department, said on Sunday.
Gravelly Point is a part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and is overseen by the National Park Service. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Kite flying is barred at the park because of the low-flying aircraft in the area. Officers 'briefly confiscated' a kite on Saturday, Ms. McGee said.
'That kite was returned to its owner shortly later, and no charges were filed,' Ms. McGee said.
It was not immediately known how high the kite was flying or what kind of kite was confiscated. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that it did not have a report about the kite.
Jamie Larounis, a travel industry analyst, said in an interview on Sunday that he had reported the kite to the airport police after seeing it make contact with the plane on Saturday while he was walking home from the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington.
He stopped to sit at Gravelly Park for 10 to 15 minutes. He described the park as a 'plane spotter's paradise,' where he sometimes sees people with air traffic control radios watching planes just before they land at the airport.
On Saturday, people were picnicking, cycling and flying about 10 to 15 kites, he said.
Most of the kites were flying relatively low, he said, but at one point he spotted a green, 'run-of-the-mill kid's kite' flying higher and higher. He said it looked as if two adults and a child were controlling it.
An incoming plane 'was at the right height to come in contact with that kite,' he said, and he watched as the kite reached a side of the plane, between its fuselage and the engine.
The kite came down, tangled in itself, he said.
He disputed the description by the police of the kite being 'briefly confiscated,' and said it remained in a police car while the family drove away from the park without it.
Mr. Larounis called the airport police to report what happened because he was concerned that the kite might have caused damage to the plane that had gone unnoticed.
He said he was also particularly sensitive to aviation safety after an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter near the airport in January, killing 67 people aboard both aircraft. The F.A.A. has since closed the helicopter route involved in the crash.
Another concerning episode happened at Reagan National Airport on Friday, when four U.S. Air Force jets came close to a Delta Air Lines plane that was taking off. The F.A.A. is investigating.
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