A plane came within 3ft of smashing into a large drone in what is believed to be one of the UK’s closest call between a passenger jet and one of the gadgets.
An easyJet plane was carrying up to 186 passengers on its way to Athens when a drone, that could have weighed 10 kilograms, flashed past the right side of the aircraft travelling at 320 mph. A report by the UK Airprox Board rated it as the most dangerous Category A incident meaning there was a serious risk of collision.
The drone’s operator has never been found but they could be convicted of endangering an aircraft which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Usually drones are restricted to flying at 400ft but some fliers override the protective software and add in extra batteries to get more height.
This drone was at the exact same height as the plane, 8,000ft which is 20 times the legal height, and was described as ‘blue, about 0.5m length’.
Pilots said the drone ‘narrowly missed the nose/windscreen of the aircraft’ and rated the chances of collision as ‘high’.
A study commissioned by the Department for Transport and the British Airline Pilots Association, found that a mid-air collision with a 4kgs drone at high speed could ‘critically damage’ an airliner’s windscreen.
The Airbus A320 had taken off from Manchester Airport and was over the streets of Ashton-Under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, on September 4 when the close call happened.
The UK Airprox Board concluded: ‘In the Board’s opinion the reported altitude and/or description of the object were sufficient to indicate that it could have been a drone.
‘The Board considered that the pilot’s overall account of the incident portrayed a situation where providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed.’
An easyJet spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of the report and fully supported the investigation by providing all requested information. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.
‘easyJet recognises the growing popularity of drones and therefore welcomes efforts by the European Aviation Safety Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority and other regulators across Europe, which govern regulation in this area, to take this issue seriously and ensure that the correct measures and regulations are put in place to ensure the safety of aviation is not compromised.’
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