Near- miss with drone at LAX

An unmanned aircraft comes within 200 feet of a commercial jetliner.

The pilot of a commercial jetliner said his plane nearly collided with a drone while approaching Los Angeles International Airport on Friday afternoon, sparking a search by L. A. police and sheriff ’ s officials for the owner of the unmanned aircraft.

The near- miss was reported before 2 p. m. about 14 miles east of the airport at an elevation of 5,000 feet and involved a Lufthansa Airbus A380, said Los Angeles police Lt. Robert Binder. The drone f lew 200 feet over the aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

L. A. County Sheriff ’s Department and police helicopters were headed to the area to try and locate the drone pilot, Binder said, adding that it would be a long- shot search.

As drones have become more prevalent, so have their run- ins with aircraft. Over the last few years, drones have grounded firefighting aircraft in California by f lying too close during firefighting missions and have struck buildings and taken down power lines.

In November, a Los Angeles man was forced to hand over his drone and promise not to f ly another for three years after interfering with a police search.

Pilots across the country are logging a fast- rising number of near- misses with drones, with 1 in 5 of such incidents happening in California, according to an October analysis of federal data released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein ( D- Calif.)

The data show nearly 200 reports of close encounters involving drones in California since April 2014 — the most of any state.

Hobbyists f lying drones have few federal legal restrictions, although they are warned not to f ly within five miles of airports or above 400 feet.

Drone operators can be f ined if they endanger people or other aircraft, the FAA says.