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ASRS 2289998

ACN 2289998 · 2025-09 · Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng

Air carrier flight crew reported an NMAC with a UAS during descent on approach. No evasive action was taken.

Pilot narratives

Verbatim, de-identified by NASA. Placeholders: ZZZ, X, Y.

Reporter 1

While descending on the BENKY6 Arrival through approximately 5,700' MSL, I noted what I believe was a black drone underneath our path by about 400' or so, just beyond the MONKZ waypoint. I brought the sighting to the attention of the Captain; however, it had already passed below us before he was able to identify it. Nothing further out of the norm was experienced and we proceeded to operate our follow-on leg without further incident.

Reporter 2

While on downwind to runway 28C in ORD, we saw a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). We were flying the BENKY6 arrival and were at approximately 6,000' MSL, in a descent to 5,000' MSL around waypoint MONKZ. It appeared to be approximately 500' below us along our path. I didn't see it but the First Officer did. The rest of the approach was uneventful. After landing we had to wait approximately 45 minutes for a gate.

NASA classification · Anomalies

  • Airspace Violation
  • Conflict
  • Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural

NASA classification · Assessments

Contributing Factors / Situations
Environment - Non Weather Related
Primary Problem
Environment - Non Weather Related

ASRS reports are voluntary, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective; they are not investigated and cannot be used to infer prevalence. Authoritative source: asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗