In April 2016, a drone struck an Airbus A320, British Airways flight as it approached its destination, London Heathrow, following a departure from Geneva. While the jet and its 132 passengers and 5 crewmen landed safely, the incident is being investigated for possible criminal links, including terrorism. The possibly deadly outcome of this collision merits a closer look at air and land-based threats against civil aviation targets.
Terrorist groups’ use of drones is not new. In August 2002, the Colombian military found 9 drones, including one fitted with plastic explosives, at a FARC base. In November 2004, Hezbollah launched an Iranian-made drone, Mirsad-1, from Lebanon into Israel, which returned without incident. Subsequently, including in August 2006, Hezbollah armed an Ababil drone with a warhead containing some 100 pounds of explosives. In September 2014, Hezbollah reportedly armed a drone, which bombed an al Nusra Front building along the Lebanese-Syrian border.