Pilots report TWO drone near-misses every week with more than 400 incidents in the last five years, investigation finds

• Aircraft pilots are reporting two near-misses every week, investigation reveals
• There have been 405 near-misses between drones and aircraft since 2015
• This includes 115 in the year to November – 44 which were serious collisions  
• MP Huw Merriman said Parliament should act on this if aviation industry don’t 

Britain’s skies are in the grip of a drone epidemic with aircraft pilots reporting two near-misses every week, a Daily Mail investigation has found.

Aviation insiders say the number of incidents has reached ‘alarming’ levels – with more than 400 incidents in the past five years.

The problem has been described as a ‘real concern’ as the gadgets – which are too small to appear on air traffic radar screens – can easily destroy an engine or smash a cockpit windscreen, potentially causing huge loss of life.

Aircraft pilots are reporting two near-misses with drones every week,  a Daily Mail investigation has revealed

With an estimated 100,000 drone users in the UK, industry sources say it is only a matter of time before a device is involved in a collision with a passenger jet.

Figures from the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near-miss events, show there have been 405 near-misses between drones and aircraft since 2015, compared to just ten between 2010 and 2014.

This includes 115 in the year to November 2019 – 44 of which were rated Category A, meaning there was a serious risk of collision. The closest near-miss occurred on December 30, 2018, when a 90-seat Embraer 175 jet came within three feet of a suspected drone over Glasgow airport. The jet was at 600ft and coming in to land when the pilot spotted a device ‘lit up in various places’. The second-closest event happened last March 28 when a drone came within six feet of a Boeing 737 jet with up to 200 on board as it approached Leeds Bradford airport.

There have been 405 near-misses between drones and aircraft since 2015. Tory MP Huw Merriman said more needs to be done by the drone industry and ‘if they don’t act, Parliament should’

Max Kingsley-Jones, editor of Flight Global magazine, said: ‘The situation is alarming… A collision with a drone could potentially cause an air crash, if it causes enough damage to the delicate systems on board.’ 

Ex-BA pilot Terry Tozer added: ‘If a drone hit the windshield it could kill or incapacitate at least one of the flight crew. These types of incidents are going to be an increasing problem.’

The law says anyone owning a drone weighing more than 250g must obtain an operator ID. They are also required to get a separate flyer ID by passing a theory test or face a fine of up to £1,000

Tory MP Huw Merriman, a member of the transport select committee until the election, said: ‘The numbers of near-misses is alarming. Much more needs to be done by the drone industry to deliver technology which keeps them well away from aircraft. If they don’t act, Parliament should.’ Anyone who owns a drone weighing more than 250g must obtain an operator ID. They are also required to get a separate flyer ID by passing a theory test or face a fine of up to £1,000. Among the key rules for drone flyers are staying below 400ft, keeping clear of aircraft and airfields, and not flying close to people or property.

The Civil Aviation Authority said: ‘It is illegal to fly drones close to airports without permission and anyone flouting the rules can face severe penalties, including imprisonment.’

How drones could tear up a plane or helicopter

Drones weighing as little as 400g can smash a helicopter windscreen, demonstrating how the devices pose a critical safety risk to aircraft.

One weighing 2kg could critically damage an airliner’s windscreen, according to research funded by the Department for Transport.

Scientists at the University of Dayton Research Institute flung a DJI Phantom 4 drone into the sky from a cannon to see what would happen when it collides with a Mooney M20 plane.

They worked to mimic a midair collision between a 2.1-lb drone and an airplane at a speed of 238mph.

They shot the drone into the air using a 2,800lb steel cannon with a 12-inch bore. 

Within three hundredths of a second, the drone smashed into the plane’s wing.

While many might think the drone would be destroyed upon impact, it actually tore open the plane.

The fast-spinning propellars on the drone ended up tearing through the plane’s wing, which damaged its main spar. For comparison purposes, the researchers also fired a similarly weighted gel ‘bird’ into a different part of the wing to see what its impact would be.

University of Dayton captured the crash using a 10,000-frame-per-second camera. They hope to conduct additional tests using similar and larger drones on other aerospace structures, including windscreens and engines, to show just how catastrophic drone collisions can be.

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