MP campaigns over airport drone safety
Politician fears there will be a ‘horrible accident’
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to increase the safety of drones after the number of near misses with aircraft rose dramatically in a year.
The number of reported incidents in 2016 compared to 2015 has almost doubled.
Virendra Sharma, the MP for Ealing and Southall, has called on the Home Secretary Amber Rudd to help improve the safety of the devices, to prevent near misses and potential risk to live.
He said it was only a matter of time until there was a ‘horrible accident’.
The campaign comes after an investigation into a near miss with a plane on approach to Heathrow Airport, which found a drone had ‘endangered lives’ of those on the Airbus after a collision was only narrowly avoided.
The pilot spotted the drone just metres from the Heathrow-bound plane.
Mr Sharma said: “Public use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and drones has been growing for some time now, with drones becoming cheaper and more toy-like.
“However, the effect of their presence near aircraft in the sky is very real.
“When using drones, please ensure that they are visible at all times, flown below 400ft and not flown over congested areas.
“The safer drones are flown, the more they can be used and the safer Heathrow Airport and its passengers will be.”
According to the UK Airprox Board, there have been a total of 64 near misses involving drones across the country in 2016, up from just 29 in 2015.
In the first six months of 2016, there were more reported near misses between drones and aircraft over the UK than in the whole of 2015.
Airprox is the name given to a situation where pilots or air traffic staff feel the proximity between aircraft poses a safety risk.
Mr Sharma said: “I am calling on the Home Secretary to do more to protect the residents of Ealing. If actions aren’t taken soon then it is only a matter of time until a horrible accident.
“Because of this threat, I have asked the Home Secretary to take action to improve safety for those of us living near Heathrow.
“I have also asked her to support a new information awareness campaign to ensure that UAV and drone flyers know the danger they may pose if they ignore the regulations.”
A football-sized drone was flown as close as 20 metres to a passenger jet earlier this year.
The Airbus A320 was flying at around 11,000ft above London on August 4 when the drone passed next to the wing.
Details of the incident, which happened over Biggin Hill while the aircraft approached Heathrow, were passed to the Metropolitan Police but the drone operator could not be traced.
In another report, a passenger aeroplane heading for Heathrow Airport narrowly avoided a disastrous incident after nearly being hit by a drone as it flew over the Shard.
The Airbus A320 was in its final descent into the west London airport with 165 people on board when it came near a drone on July 17.
According to a report released on the incident, the aircraft was a mere 20 metres away from the remote controlled object as it flew by the 95-storey skyscraper.