The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Investigation of near miss above Broughty Castle
‘Safety may have been compromised’ as pilot came close to drone
A drone came within 50 metres of a light aircraft over Dundee, an official probe has revealed.
Investigators said safety “had not been assured”.
In a report published yesterday, the Piper Cherokee plane pilot said that he was descending through 1,700ft towards Broughty Castle when a white drone with four propellers and lights came close to his aircraft.
“He took a small avoiding action turn to the left and the drone flew beneath his right wing in the opposite direction,” said the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near misses.
“The board considered that the pilot’s overall account of the incident portrayed a situation where safety had been much reduced below the norm to the extent that safety had not been assured.”
It rated the risk of collision from the incident as B – the second highest level, where “the safety of the aircraft may have been compromised”.
The plane was five nautical miles east of Dundee Airport at the time on November 14. It said the drone was just 50ft above it and 50m (164ft) away.
It is the latest in a series of similar incidents over Scotland.
A helicopter came within 164ft of a weather balloon over Aberdeenshire, it was revealed last month.
The Sikorsky 92 (SK92) was seven nautical miles north of Aberdeen when, on the same level at 3,000ft, the pilot saw a reflecting object on the forward left-hand side.
It was just 50m away.
The Aberdeen air traffic controller said that the SK92 was outbound from Aberdeen when the pilot reported having to take action to avoid the object on October 29.
Last year an object – believed to be a metal balloon – came within 20ft of a passenger plane over Glasgow.
The UK Airprox Board gave the incident its highest risk rating of A and said “providence had played a major part” in avoiding a collision.
The Airbus 319 had departed from Glasgow and was at 8,300ft when an unknown object, apparently metallic, came within 20-50ft of the aircraft as it passed down the left-hand side.
The pilot reported the near miss on June 27 to air traffic control and subsequent aircraft were kept clear of the area.
The Prestwick controller said further questioning revealed the Airbus had flown in close proximity to what they thought was a silver balloon.
The location corresponded to above the Rosyth dockyard, on the north bank of the Forth Estuary, but there were no published balloon launch sites in the area – or notices of intended launches.