ATSB Has Discontinued Its Investigation

When a student pilot and instructor on approach to Parafield airport near Adelaide, South Australia felt something hit the wing of the SOCATA TB-10 Tobago aircraft they flying during a night training session, they initially thought he'd hit a bird ... a fairly normal assumption in such a case.

But when the instructor examined the damaged right wing of the airplane after landing, and did not discover any overt biological evidence, he called the tower and reported that he might have hit a drone. That got the attention of a lot of people, and initiated an ATSB investigation.

But, it turned out to be something natural after all. Not a bird, but a bat.

According to the ATSB's final report on the matter:  

The ATSB conducted an inspection of the aircraft, and swab samples of the impact area were taken by the airport operator, and sent to the Australian Museum for DNA testing. The subsequent DNA test results indicated the sample was most consistent with that of a grey-headed flying-fox, from the bat family. The ATSB has assessed that there is little potential for the enhancement of transport safety through further investigation of this occurrence. The ATSB has discontinued the investigation.

(Image provided with ATSB report)

FMI: Report