A British Airways flight from Rome came close to hitting an illegally flown drone before landing at Heathrow for the second time in five months, a report has revealed.
In the latest incident, the A320 jet flying at more than 280mph came within 30ft of hitting a drone around ten miles south of the London airport.
The plane carrying up to 160 passengers landed safely after the close call at a height of 7,000ft at around 12.40pm on September 2 last year.
The drone was said to be around 3ft wide, making it far larger than devices usually flown by hobby flyers.
The same flight from Rome, operated by Finnair on behalf of BA, missed a drone by 3ft at a height of 3,000ft while approaching Heathrow at a similar time on April 8 last year.
Finnair were operating flight on behalf of British Airways from Heathrow to Rome
The plane carrying up to 160 passengers landed safely after the close call at a height of 7,000ft
The earlier close call, which was revealed exclusively by MailOnline last July, happened around three miles south of Maidenhead, Berkshire, and led to the temporary closure of the main runway at the airport.
The UK Airprox Board which assesses near misses rated both near misses as Category A incidents where there was a serious risk of collision.
The fact that the same flight reported two near misses within five months has highlighted the risk of drones interfering with air traffic.
Aviation experts have repeatedly warned of the dangers posed by the devices if they are sucked into a jet engine or smash into a cockpit, particularly during critical times like take off or landing.
Drones are normally restricted to flying below 400ft, meaning the device in the second incident was potentially more than 17 times higher than the legal limit.
The A320 jet flying at more than 280mph came within 30ft of hitting a drone
Operators can over-ride the height-limiting software with patches bought online.
Some enthusiasts are thought to load their devices up with extra batteries so they can soar high into the sky in a bid to get dramatic videos of airliners flying past.
It is believed that the drone operator or operators in the incidents were never traced, but if they had been caught they could have potentially been jailed for up to five years for endangering an aircraft.
The UKAB report into the second incident said: ‘It was a very close call, distance to the drone was less than 10m.
‘It passed down the right side of the aircraft, just below. The drone was a white quadcopter with diameter of about 3ft.’
The report described the risk of a collision as ‘high’ and said that ‘the reported altitude and/or description of the object were sufficient to indicate that it could have been a drone’.
It added: ‘The Board considered that the pilot’s overall account of the incident portrayed a situation where providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed.’
Finnair was unable to confirm if the same pilots were on both planes.
A spokesperson for the airline said: ‘Finnair can confirm British Airways flight from Rome Fiumicino to London Heathrow on 2 September 2023, which was operated by Finnair, witnessed a drone on final approach to London.
Finnair did not say if the same pilots were on both planes
‘Our pilots are trained to handle such incidents and acted in accordance with Finnair’s standard operating procedures to ensure the safety of the flight was not compromised and could land as normal.
‘The safety, security and wellbeing of passengers and crew is Finnair’s highest priority.
The alarm in the first incident was raised when a drone was spotted ‘in the vicinity’ by the pilots of two passenger jets on their final approach to Heathrow.
The pilots of the British Airways flight from Rome, also operated by Finnair and following behind, were warned by air traffic controllers about the reported drone.
The UK Airprox Board said they elected to continue as the drone was reportedly ‘staying to the right of the centreline’ of their flight path.
But as they neared the drone it ‘flew under the left wing, only a few metres from the engine’ of their A320 aircraft.
The Finnair pilots rated the risk of a collision as ‘high’, and estimated that the drone was between 3ft and 10ft directly below their aircraft ten miles west of Heathrow.
The incident is believed to have been one of the closest ever near misses between a drone and an airliner to be recorded in UK airspace.
The device was said to be ’round shaped’ and a ‘purple/turquoise colour’ was being flown at more than seven times the normal legal maximum height.
The report said that air traffic control was informed and the Finnair plane landed safely on Heathrow’s northern runway.
Both flights were flying to London Heathrow Airport from Rome
But the runway known as RW09L was immediately closed to flights following behind the Finnair plane.
Other planes were directed to land instead on the southern runway known as RW09R so they did not come into conflict with the drone.
The Heathrow Approach controller considered the move necessary due to the ‘immediate risk’ posed to other aircraft.
The report said that a safety investigation by NATS (formerly National Air Traffic Services) had found no trace of the drone on radar records at the time of the sightings.
A spokesperson for Finnair, confirming the near miss in July, said: ‘Getting accurate estimates of distance is challenging at high speed, so 3 to 10ft is only an estimation of the distance from the drone.
‘Flying drones in areas where it is strictly forbidden shows that some drone enthusiasts have ignored safety regulations.
‘We want to express our concern about this irresponsible activity. These cases endanger air traffic safety and can cause flight operations disruptions.
‘Safety is the cornerstone of aviation, and we also expect a strong safety culture from drone enthusiasts.’
