Drone Mid-Air Collision With Army Helicopter Probed by NTSB

(Bloomberg) -- Federal investigators will undertake their first probe of a mid-air collision between a civilian drone and a traditional aircraft.

An Army UH-60 helicopter was flying east of Staten Island on Sept. 21 when it collided with a Phantom 4 quad copter drone made by China-based SZ DJI Technology Co., the National Transportation Safety Board said in a press release Thursday.

The NTSB released a photo of an unidentified component on the helicopter with scrape marks that apparently occurred in the collision. The copter was able to land safely.

Investigators identified and interviewed the operator of the drone and obtained flight data on the unmanned vehicle's flight. The Federal Aviation Administration is participating in the probe and the Army is conducting a separate review.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Levin in Washington at alevin24@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Mark Drajem

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