EasyJet plane carrying up to 180 passengers came within 65ft of hitting a drone, it emerged last night
- Airliner was flying south of Edinburgh when it had a near miss with a drone
- Investigating authority has now graded the incident among the most serious
- They find that it was only through luck that drone missed the passenger plane
An Easyjet plane carrying up to 180 passengers came within 65ft of hitting a drone, it emerged last night.
The near-miss on July 8 left the pilot of the Airbus A320 with no time to take evasive action as the jet approached Gatwick at 350ft, an inquiry report revealed.
Investigators rated it as a Category A incident, meaning there was a serious risk of collision.
An Easyjet plane carrying up to 180 passengers came within 65ft of hitting a drone, it emerged last night (stock image)
The near-miss on July 8 left the pilot of the Airbus A320 with no time to take evasive action as the jet approached Gatwick at 350ft, an inquiry report revealed (stock image)
The plane was over a car park when the captain spotted the £3,000 drone.
The UK Airprox Board report said if the autopilot had been engaged the crew believed ‘there was a very high probability they would have struck the drone’.
It is unclear who flew the device.
A report said the co-pilot then ‘looked out and also saw a drone, directly in front of the aircraft, slightly to the left at a range of about 100m.’
It added: ‘Visual contact was maintained with the drone as it passed down the left side of the aircraft at the same level.
‘The crew were unable to perform an evasive manoeuvre due to the speed of the event.
‘The first officer reported the drone sighting to air traffic control and the crew made a statement to the police after landing.
‘The crew believed that if the autopilot had still been engaged, and they were on the centreline, there was a very high probability that they would have struck the drone.’