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Corporate Captain reported damage was found on the aircraft post-flight. The damage is believed to have been caused by a UAS during descent.

Date: 2026-01 · Aircraft: Medium Large Transport · Phase: descent

Anomalies: Airspace violation all typesDeviation discrepancy procedural published material policyDeviation discrepancy procedural unauthorized flight operations uasDeviation discrepancy procedural FARInflight event encounter object

Synopsis

Corporate Captain reported damage was found on the aircraft post-flight. The damage is believed to have been caused by a UAS during descent.

Narrative

Painted traffic primary target only no altitude 4nm or less off right side of aircraft. While descending on the JAKE4 arrival. We estimate we were below FL 200. Cleaners found damage and notified our mechanic. Suspect possible drone impact.Suggestions: None of us noticed any damage on the post flight inspection. The ground crew and our mechanic were working on the plane from XA30 through XF00 before one of the cleaners noticed the damage. Going forward I have instructed my crew to video their preflights and post flights.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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