Prince William’s horror as drone comes within ‘half a second’ of hitting his air ambulance in shocking near-miss
Official report reveals drama happened when the helicopter was flying 1,900ft over a busy McDonald’s
PRINCE William’s air ambulance came within 'half a second' of a disastrous mid-air collision with a drone.
It's been reported the medics on board the chopper feared the worst when they saw the remote-controlled advice buzz within feet of their chopper.
An official report, which has been seen by journalists at the , revealed ‘a collision had only been narrowly avoided.'
The report reveals the near-miss happened at 1,900ft when the helicopter - carrying three medical staff and two pilots - was flying over a busy McDonald’s restaurant.
It said to have been flying at 138mph and the drone was under 100ft away – making it half a second from impact.
The Duke of Cambridge regularly pilots 'Anglia Two' but was not on board at the time.
The operator of the drone was never traced even though his craft was flying well above the legal limit.
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A report by the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near-collisions, rated it as a Category A incident due to there being a ‘serious risk of collision’.
The report said that the drone was flown ‘into conflict’ with the helicopter at 7.45pm on August 26 last year.
The incident is said to have effectively endangered 'the EC145 and its crew’.
The quadcopter drone was spotted by medical personnel in the back of the helicopter.
The pilot, who rated the chance of a collision as ‘high’, immediately informed air traffic controllers and ambulance control staff, telling them to alert police on the ground.
The report said: ‘The board considered that the reported range was such that this was a situation where a collision had only been narrowly avoided and chance had played a major part.’
"It would be catastrophic if it hit the tail rotor system and a potential serious danger if it hit the main rotor. This highlights the problem with drones."