British Airways Flight May Have Been Hit by Plastic Bag: Official

— -- The drone-like object that hit a British Airways passenger jet on Sunday may have actually been "a plastic bag," Britain’s minister of transport said Thursday.

“The reported drone strike on Sunday has not been confirmed [if] it was actually a drone,” said Minister Robert Goodwill. “There’s indeed some speculation that it may have been even a plastic bag or something.”

The captain of British Airways flight 727 reported the Airbus 320 had struck an object – possibly a drone – during its final approach to London’s Heathrow Airport, the airline told ABC. The civil aviation authority said the Metropolitan Police was investigating a “possible drone incident.”

But Goodwill is skeptical.

“We’re not quite sure what they saw,” he said. “I think we should maybe not overreact too much.”

According to British Airways, the plane and its 132 passengers landed safely. Engineers found no damage to the aircraft and later cleared it for takeoff.

“Safety and security are always our first priority and we will continue to give the authorities every assistance with their investigations,” British Airways said in a statement.

Regardless of what hit flight 727, Goodwill acknowledged that the increasing number of close calls between drones and planes is “of great concern.”

Geofencing and other software updates promise to cut down on those encounters, but as Goodwill pointed out, those technologies are vulnerable to hackers.

Stateside, the Federal Aviation Administration prohibits flying drones near airports -- but pilots still report about 25 close calls per month, according to the FAA, and experts worry that a collision could wreak havoc on a jet's engine.