Drones risked colliding with airliners

A drone avoided crashing into a plane over Edinburgh only “by providence,” an official probe has concluded.

It missed the Airbus passenger plane by just 75 feet. And it was the second incident involving drones and planes in Scotland’s skies within three days of each other.

The Edinburgh incident on November 25 was rated by the UK Airprox Board – which investigates near misses – as Category A, “in which serious risk of collision has existed”.

An A319 Airbus was descending over the Scottish capital at 12.09pm when the pilot said they came “very close” to what appeared to be a drone.

“The drone operator could not be traced,” said the report.

“Members agreed that, given the altitude, the done was being operated beyond visual line of sight and therefore that it had been flown into confliction with the A319.”

Three days earlier, on November 22, another Airbus also had come close to a drone – this time over Kilmarnock.

Ministers are considering measures to enforce registration of all new drones so they can be better monitored, while the Department for Transport is also reviewing drone safety.