SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – A United Airlines flight crew reported seeing a drone as the plane made its approach to land at San Diego International Airport Wednesday morning.
At around 8:20 a.m., United Flight 1980 from San Francisco was preparing to land in San Diego when the crew reported seeing — according to air-traffic control audio obtained by ABC 10News — a "small, shiny red drone" below them.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, "While approaching San Diego International Airport at about 4,000 feet altitude, the crew of United Airlines Flight 1980 told air traffic control they believed they saw a drone 1,000 feet below them. Air traffic control alerted other pilots but did not receive any additional drone-sighting reports."
United Airlines confirmed the Boeing 737 landed safely, passengers disembarked without issue, and no damage was found on the aircraft.
The aircraft was carrying 48 passengers and six crew members.
The incident is raising new questions about how a drone got into restricted airspace.
"They had geo-fencing in place for a long time and so they've since removed that so that's allowed, you know, that's allowed drone operators to fly a little more freely," said Brady Spear, a drone operator for Spearhead Media in San Diego.
Spear said drone operators must follow strict guidelines, adding that drones near airports is highly restricted and requires prior FAA authorization.
"In the areas that's not restricted, you're still limited to 400 ft. So the fact that this drone operator was at 3000 ft was pretty scary," Spear said.
The FAA reminded drone operators that flying above 400 feet without special FAA authorization is prohibited and that drones must steer clear of restricted airspace, including areas near airports.
