Latest news with #EmilyMcGee
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
United aware of reports kite struck plane landing at Reagan National
ARLINGTON, Va. (WDCW) — A kite reportedly made contact with a United Airlines flight Saturday as the plane was approaching Reagan National Airport (DCA), the airline said. 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. FAA reports near-miss at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport involving Delta plane, Air Force Talon 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. Delta Air Lines drops new set of pilot trading cards: How to get yours 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. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
31-03-2025
- The Hill
United aware of reports kite struck plane landing at Reagan National
ARLINGTON, Va. (WDCW) — A kite reportedly made contact with a United Airlines flight Saturday as the plane was approaching Reagan National Airport (DCA), the airline said. 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. FAA reports near-miss at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport involving Delta plane, Air Force Talon 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. 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.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Kite reportedly makes contact with United flight near Reagan National Airport, airline says
ARLINGTON, Va. () — A kite reportedly made contact with a United Airlines flight Saturday as the plane was approaching Reagan National Airport (DCA), the airline said. In a statement to DC News Now, United Airlines said it is aware of reports that a kite struck United Flight 654, which departed from Houston for DCA. FAA reports near-miss at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport involving Delta plane, Air Force Talon 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), Reagan National (DCA) and Dulles International airports, said that its officers had responded to reports of kite-flying that day at Gravelly Point. , a park across the Potomac River in Alexandria 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 authority said officers briefly confiscated a kite flying in the restricted airspace. '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. American Airlines plane, military helicopter collide near DCA, crash into Potomac River 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 near DCA, killing Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Yahoo
Kite reportedly made contact with United flight near Reagan National Airport: airline
ARLINGTON, Va. (WDCW) — A kite reportedly made contact with a United Airlines flight Saturday as the plane was approaching Reagan National Airport (DCA), the airline said. 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. FAA reports near-miss at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport involving Delta plane, Air Force Talon 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. Delta Air Lines drops new set of pilot trading cards: How to get yours 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. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
30-03-2025
- New York Times
Kite Confiscated After Coming in Contact With a Jet Near Washington
The police confiscated a kite on Saturday after it was flown near airplanes landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, according to the airport police, and after a witness said he saw it make contact with a landing plane. 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.
