A drone came so close to smashing into a British Airways jet over London that the pilot thought it was ‘going to hit the windscreen’, a report has revealed.
The near miss happened when the B787 plane from Mumbai in India, flying at around 230mph and carrying up to 256 passengers, was coming in to land at Heathrow.
The illegally-flown device loomed into view as the plane was at 5,200ft over Poplar in east London before starting its final approach just before 2pm on May 14 this year.
The BA pilot immediately radioed Heathrow air traffic controllers to report the drone had ‘passed within a wing’s length off the left-hand side of the aircraft’.
The UK Airprox Board which assesses near-misses in UK airspace added: ‘There was visual contact from the captain’s window. Drone was white in colour and professional sized’.
A drone came so close to smashing into a British Airways jet over London that the pilot thought it was ‘going to hit the windscreen’, a report has revealed (file photo)
The illegally flown device loomed into view as the plane was at 5,200ft over the Poplar area of east London before beginning its final approach just before 2pm on May 14 this year (file photo)
A report by NATS air traffic control service added: ‘When asked if the drone was at their level, the pilot responded, “Yes. I literally thought it was going to hit the windscreen”.’
The pilot believed the plane had ended up passing the drone when it was around 100ft away and the risk of a collision had been ‘high’.
Other aircraft which were going through the area were warned of the sighting, but there were no further reports of a drone in the area.
The height at which the drone was being flown was around 13 times the usual maximum legal height for the devices of 400ft. Most drones are fitted with software limiting their maximum height, but it can be over-ridden by patches bought on the internet.
It is believed that the drone was being flown by someone trying to get dramatic video footage of an airliner in flight.
Aviation experts have long warned of the risk of drones damaging cockpit windows or jet engines with potential catastrophic results if they hit a plane.
The operator of the drone in the incident could have been jailed for up to five years for endangering an aircraft if caught, but it is believed they were never traced.
The UK Airprox Board rated the near miss as a Category A incident where there was a serious risk of collision.
An image from flight tracker website flightradar24 showing the British Airways plane in the area where it nearly hit the drone
The report added: ‘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.’
A British Airways spokesperson said: ‘We take such matters extremely seriously and our pilots report incidents so that the authorities can investigate and take appropriate action.’
