A United Airlines plane reportedly made contact with a kite while it was attempting to land at Reagan National Airport (DCA) on Saturday afternoon, the airline confirmed in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“We are aware of reports that a kite struck UA flight 654 from Houston to Reagan Airport in Washington D.C.,” the statement read.
“The aircraft landed safely, customers deplaned normally and upon inspection there was no damage to the aircraft.”
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) also confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital and shared details of what transpired.
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United Airlines passenger aircraft are lined up at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on May 11, 2024. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
“Police officers responded to reports of kite-flying at Gravely Point yesterday, an activity which is not allowed in that area due to the danger to low-flying aircraft,” the statement read.
Gravelly Point is a park in Arlington, Virginia, located north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, along the George Washington Parkway, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is only a “few hundred feet away” from the runway at DCA, according to the park’s website.
The agency said officers warned some individuals about flying kites and “briefly confiscated a kite.”
“That kite was returned to its owner shortly later and no charges were filed,” the agency said.
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United Airlines Boeing 777-200 wide body aircraft as seen taxiing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport towards the departure runway for a flight to Houston IAH airport in the United States of America. ((Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
The MWAA added that they could not confirm whether a kite hit the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Fox News Digital that “they have not been made aware of any such incident.”
While it has not yet been determined if the kite actually hit the plane, Captain Robert Katz, a veteran commercial pilot and flight instructor for 43 years, told WUSA9 that he doesn’t believe the kite made contact with the plane on Saturday afternoon.
“If the kite had actually made contact with the airplane, we would know it,” Captain Katz told the outlet. “The kite would have been destroyed and possibly the airplane as well, although not likely.”
Katz also said that he believes whoever was flying the kite had been intentionally reckless.
“That to me is incredibly irresponsible, and it’s going to be a real stretch for someone to claim they don’t know,” Katz explained.
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A general view of Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday, January 30, 2025. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching the airport for landing last night. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
Katz added that in his 43-year-lomg career, he had never heard of a kite hitting a plane before. He did say that commercial flight interference from the ground happens frequently, but mostly from people shining lasers at planes.
This latest incident comes a day after a Delta Air Lines plane nearly crashed midair with a T-38 Air Force jet near DCA.
Delta Air Lines Flight 2983, an Airbus A319 headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) when four U.S. Air Force T-38 Talons were inbound to Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover on March 28, according to the FAA and U.S. Air Force.
The FAA said the Delta plane received an “onboard alert” that another aircraft was nearby, and air traffic controllers issued corrective instructions to both aircraft.
The NTSB said it was aware of “a loss of separation” between Delta flight 2983 and other aircraft, shortly after takeoff from DCA.
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“We are currently collecting information, but have not yet launched an investigation,” an NTSB spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.
Both incidents come months after the deadly Jan. 29 collision when an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane collided near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C.
All 67 people were killed, which included 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the American Airlines flight and three soldiers aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
