Envoy E175 aircraft may have hit a drone climbing out of Chicago

[MS Coast]

Its always "May have hit a drone". This pilot just wants a night off to get some real sleep

Certainly not in the case of the Cessna 172 mentioned in that same article. The local PD is missing their drone and the Cessna has a some re-shaped sheet metal.

 

[Richiebricker]

"Departure, Envoy 3169, we just hit something. I believe we just hit a drone about 30 seconds ago."

Sounds like you doubt that they hit a drone. What suggests another explanation for the damage to air airplane?

They'd just been advised of a drone in the area. As you point out, the sun was behind them, so visibility would be good ahead of them. And, as you say, they were keeping an eye out for other aircraft, probably specifically for the drone just reported.

He said "May have" hit a drone and there is no report of even a scratch to the airplane. which it wouldnt leave a scratch unless sucked into the engine. He didnt see one, but another pilot on another plane said he seen one earlier

 

[DoomMeister]

Airline pilot’s drone identification chart. This one happed to be the top row far right. What we commonly call a balloon.

 

[jaswalt]

Is there a reliable source for the 3600 meters altitude? Every article I've seen reports 2500' when the strike occurred. Only the DroneDJ article reports 12,000 feet. The conversation between the controller and aircrew confirms 2500.

I'm with you on this one: The most reliable source would be the pilot's own words, since he was the one that was in the cockpit with the altimeter in front of him. If the 3600 meters was told by a reporter, they have zero credibility when it comes to anything technical.

 

[jaswalt]

We often see reports by drone pilots, News media, including Dronedj, and others, exclaiming “Drones are often blamed but hardly ever the culprit” (Dronedj), and “Most of the reports to NTSB of possible drone collisions with other aircraft have proven unsubstantiated,” (Dronedj), just to cite a couple.
In this current article, Dronedj reports:
“Envoy Air’s flight ENY396 returned to O’Hare shortly after its regular 6:20 p.m. evening departure for Detroit, after pilots reported striking something at 12,000 feet,” and continued, “Departure, Envoy 3961, we just hit something,” a crew member is heard saying. “I believe we hit a drone about 30 seconds ago. We’d like to return to O’Hare.”
Dronedj continued paragraph after paragraph but never explained the source of its “12,000” claim, and notwithstanding the inclusion of the actual ATC – pilot communication tape at the end of its article In which the pilot clearly states “we were climbing through about 2500(ft)… we were approximately 4 miles northwest of the airport, when it happened, maybe 2500 feet.” Dronedj never refuted its earlier claim of 12,000 ft.
C’mon man! What kind of reporting is this!

What kind of reporting??? The kind that has become commonplace--lazy.

 

[jaswalt]

Another piece of the puzzle.

https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/jet-strikes-mysterious-object-returns-to-ohare

According to this article, the FAA says Flight 3961 hit a mylar balloon. But there's no source listed and there's nothing in the FAA's Preliminary Accident and Incident Reports. I sent an email to the author of the article asking for the source.

https://www.asias.faa.gov/apex/f?p=100:93::??::

I"m assuming that hitting a balloon, even mylar, wouldn't make any sort of noise that could be detectable. So what made them think they hit something? Any word on that? I did read the article and it says that there was damage. That sounds more like a steel balloon than mylar, unless it was a mylar balloon the size of a bus.

 

[TwoSticks]

I’m just happy to read it seems not to be a real drone in the end. I know when I was new before learning the rules I could have flown way too high in areas I did not belong.

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

3600 meters altitude is pretty unlikely for a quad (with a hacked DJI or a DIY quad you'll burn the entire battery climbing that high, so you can be there for a minute maybe, and in that minute you hit a plane? XD)... but these days everything is caused by drones, even if they don't see the drone, it's a drone, always, no matter what ¬_¬U

Drones make a very specific type of sound when hitting an airplane. It's unmistakable. They make a droning sound. ?