UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that upon investigation, the incident on 17 April was unlikely to have involved a drone, the BBC reports.
British Airways flight 727 was on approach to London's Heathrow airport when, at an altitude of around 1,700 feet, it appeared to hit something that Metropolitan Police said may have been a drone. Robert Goodwill, a transport minister, previously speculated that the object may have been a plastic carrier bag.
The Airbus A320 was undamaged and landed safely before continuing on to its next scheduled destination. Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. In 2014 and 2015, planes over Heathrow and other airports around the world have begun reporting near-misses with drones.