Pilot’s desperate shout to co-pilot as drone the size of a football came within 20 metres of plane over Heathrow
It was one of three near misses involving drones according to investigators
A DRONE the size of a FOOTBALL was flown around 20 metres from a passenger plane as it flew above London – leaving the crew no time to take action to stop it crashing into them, an investigation has revealed.
The Airbus A320's first officer shouted "look!" as the device passed next to the right wing at around 11,000ft above south-east London, the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) said.
It was one of three near misses involving drones which featured in the board's latest report.
The board members warned that a minority of drone operators are "flagrantly disregarding regulation and common sense" in pursuit of "ever more spectacular video footage".
During the incident involving the A320 there wasn’t enough time for the flight crew to take action to avoid a potential collision with the drone, which had a flashing magenta light.
The drone was at the same altitude and at its closest point passed just 20 to 40 metres from the aircraft.
Air traffic control was immediately alerted to the near miss which occurred at 6.05pm on August 4, when the airliner was in a holding pattern over Biggin Hill used for flights approaching Heathrow Airport.
Details were passed to the Metropolitan Police but the drone operator could not be traced.
The UKAB concluded that the person flying the drone had endangered the A320 and its occupants while flying in restricted airspace without permission.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rules also state that drones should not be flown above 400 feet.
A collision "had only been narrowly avoided" and chance had played a "major part", the report noted.
On July 20 an Embraer 190 jet was in a climbing turn at 2,700 feet over the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, shortly after taking off from London City Airport when a drone passed just nine metres above it and 20 metres to its left.
In another case on the same day, a sharp-edged bright yellow drone with a width of 60cm was flown at "exactly the level of the flight deck window" of a Boeing 767 aircraft approaching Manchester Airport.
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The report found that the device was "so close it must have passed over the right wing".
All three drone incidents were assessed as having the most serious degree of risk. None of the operators were found.
Pilots' union Balpa has called for better education for drone users and compulsory registration of the devices.
The organisation's flight safety specialist Steve Landells said: "Flying a drone in an irresponsible manner puts lives in danger and any offending drone should transmit enough data to allow the police to locate the operator.
"If they have endangered an aircraft we would like to see the culprit prosecuted."
Pilots want tests to be carried out to discover what would happen if a drone hit a passenger jet, amid fears it could result in an uncontrolled engine failure or a smashed cockpit windscreen.
There is a large amount of data on the effects of bird strikes on planes, but not for drone collisions.
Some 59 near misses involving drones have featured in UKAB reports over the past 12 months.
In November the CAA launched a website to promote its code of conduct for drone users - named the Dronecode - which has been revised in a bid to make it easier to understand.
A spokesman for the regulator said: "It is totally unacceptable to fly drones close to aircraft and airports. Anyone flouting the rules can face severe penalties including up to five years in prison."
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