Report describes ‘high category’ near miss with drone at Gatwick
An Airbus A320 had to take action to avoid a drone on the approach to Gatwick, a near-miss report has revealed.
The aircraft, with 186 passengers on board, was flying at 1,700ft towards the airport when the pilot spotted a dark-coloured drone, the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) reports.
UKAB said the drone was flying at above the maximum 400ft permitted height and described the near-miss on April 28, as in the highest risk category.
The airline has not been identified.
The incident happened four months after a series of drone sightings at Gatwick caused the airport to be shut down over a period of 36 hours, just before Christmas in December 2018.
The shutdown caused 1,000 flights to be cancelled or diverted, affecting up to 140,000 passengers.
Two other category A incidents involving large passenger aircraft were also noted by UKAB. One took place on May 25 near Gatwick, another on the approach to Heathrow on June 6.
A third incident involved a Cessna 152 light aircraft above Chelmsford on June 2.
The Cessna pilot spotted a large black drone which passed within five metres of the right wing and there was ‘no time to manoeuvre away from it’, the report said.
By law, drones must be flown below 400ft and at least 164ft away from buildings and people.
In March, the drone no-fly zone around airports was extended to 3.1 miles, up from 0.6 miles.
There were 125 near-misses involving drones reported in 2018, up 34% on the previous year and much higher than the six incidents reported in 2014, the Guardian reports.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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