Just 16ft from tragedy
Report reveals drone almost downed plane near Scots airport
A PLANE with 25 people on board was involved in a near-miss with a drone close to a Scots airport, investigators have revealed.
The device passed within 16ft of the cockpit, with crew then checking the Loganair aircraft’s tail, fearing it had been hit.
This latest incident has now been rated as having the highest degree of risk by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB).
It comes amid concerns over the growing rise in drone activity putting flights into Scottish airports at serious danger.
The near-miss happened on November 24 last year, when the Loganair plane was nine miles from Glasgow Airport at an altitude of 3,000 feet.
Outlining the details, Loganair chief operations officer Maurice Boyle said: ‘Our Saab 2000 aircraft was carrying 22 passengers and three crew from Sumburgh in Shetland and was approaching Glasgow Airport when the captain and first officer both saw the drone in very close proximity.
‘Fortunately there was no collision, but this was potentially a very serious incident.
‘Penalties should be substantially increased for flagrant misuse of drones near airports, where they represent a very major hazard.’
The aircraft’s captain and first officer described the drone as dark or black and around one metre (3ft) wide. It passed about five metres (16ft) above the captain’s window and was moving at ‘high speed’ in a straight line.
The near-miss was immediately reported to air traffic control and police met the crew after landing.
Reporting its findings, the UKAB stated that ‘a definite risk of collision had existed’.
It was one of 11 near-misses between an aircraft and a drone or unknown object analysed by the board in its latest monthly meeting. Other cases involved flights landing at or taking off
‘A definite risk of collision’
from Perth, Belfast, Bristol, Liverpool and London.
There has already been widespread concern surrounding drones after sightings of the devices caused flights to be grounded for 36 hours at Gatwick Airport in the run-up to Christmas.
The runway had to be closed and more than 1,000 flights were cancelled.
Aviation Minister Liz Sugg said: ‘Flying drones illegally puts others at risk. The law is clear that these are serious criminal acts that hold lengthy prison sentences.
‘The Government is further strengthening the law by extending the no-fly zone around airports; and from November all drone users must be registered and tested – which will help hold illegal drone users to account.’
Previously, official figures have revealed 11 near-misses between unmanned aerial vehicles and other aircraft, such as planes and helicopters, north of the Border in the past three years.
The UKAB – which monitors all near-misses involving commercial aircraft – found that almost half of the incidents were rated as Category A, in which a ‘serious risk of collision’ existed.
One of the most serious took place in September 2018 when a drone passed immediately above a commercial passenger jet as it prepared to land at Glasgow Airport.
The pilot spotted a ‘shiny white drone’ only 50 to 100ft above the aircraft during his final descent.
In its findings, the UKAB board ruled that the drone was being flown at 800ft – twice the permitted height – in an airfield approach path causing a ‘high risk of collision’ that was ‘only avoided by providence’.
Another near-miss in 2016 saw a drone fly past only 75ft from an easyJet plane as it prepared to land at Edinburgh Airport.
Tests have shown that a strike by a drone could bring down an aircraft by breaking the windscreen, damaging a wing or even destroying an engine.