Pilot: Drone Almost Collided With Passenger Aircraft

In a report from the UK’s Airprox Board, it was mentioned that the co-pilot of an AT72 that flew close to London did experience a close call, where it went through a near-miss with a quadcopter over at its right wing. For pilots who have long loved the freedom of a bright blue (and relatively quiet) sky, drones are starting to be somewhat a nuisance, and who knows, it might end up as the cause of a tragedy in the near future if there are not too many regulations involved.

The UK’s Airprox Board does examine all safety issues in UK airspace, claims that the co-pilot of an AT72 passenger plane made a report concerning a quadcopter that came close to clipping the AT72-500’s right wing. In report No. 2014073, the plane was approaching the Southend airport that is located to the east of London.

In the report, it read, “The co-pilot formed the impression that the quadcopter had been flown deliberately close to the AT72 because he had seen it around 100m away as it approached from the right-hand side and made a turn to fly in the opposite direction to his aircraft, around 25m away and at the same level.”

It seemed as though the quadcopter’s controller was not traced down or discovered, with even upon contacting a couple of model aircraft flying clubs located within the area failed to yield any further leads. Do you think it is but a matter of time before something terrible happens? Let us keep our fingers crossed that drone owners would make use of common sense when flying their drones in public airspace.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: Drones