. >> said that the uaf was so close to his jet he was sure he had collided with it. thankfully the inspection of the airliner found no damage. >> reporter: it could have brought down the plane. the safety of our passengers and crews are top priority. us airways parent company tells cnn in a news statement, we're aware of the published report alleging an incident with one of our express jets and we are investigating. there have been close calls before'sthe fbi is still investigating a drone that came within 200 feet of an alitalia flight earlier in the air. >> a drone. >> reporter: the pilot in that incident can be heard telling air traffic control. and this monday, a small drone was found after apparently hitting this building in st. louis. in the next five years, the faa estimates as many as 7,500 drones could be flying in the u.s. airspace at any given time. the agency has been working on a plan to safely integrate drones into the airspace so that you don't have accidents with passenger aircrafts. now, it is illegal for commercial use, although there are some excep