Moments of horror have been experienced by 216 passengers on board a British Airways plane that was flying at a speed of over 300 km/h over London, as it risked colliding with an illegal drone that was only 18 meters away.
The crash may have occurred over Windsor shortly after the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, bound for Montreal, took off from Heathrow Airport.
According to the UK Airprox Board report, the pilot spotted the drone on the aircraft's flight path at 914m above ground.
" It was obvious that the drone was very close and was going to pass under the aircraft to their left. The drone was white, with many props, but no lights ," the report says.
The report rated it as a category A incident, meaning there was a serious risk of a crash, and the pilot confirmed this.
Air traffic controllers confirmed that the pilot had radioed that they had passed too close to a drone. UKAB, which assesses UK airspace terrain, found: " In the Board's view, the reported height and/or description of the object was sufficient to indicate that it could be a drone. The Board considered that the overall narrative the pilot's account of the incident portrayed a situation where care had played a major role in the incident and/or there was a definite risk of a crash. "
Meanwhile, the drone is believed to have been taken into the air by someone trying to record a dramatic video of a plane in flight. Aviation experts have long warned of the danger that drones could damage cockpit windows or aircraft engines with potentially catastrophic results. (A2 Televizion)
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