A British Airways flight with 200 passengers on board was just metres away from colliding with a pair of illegally flown drones, a report has revealed.
The Airbus A321 flight from Rome was making its descent into Heathrow at 1pm on July 28 at a height of 800ft when two drones flew close to the aircraft.
A report by the UK Airprox Board, which analyses air collisions, found the devices were flying 50 ft above the plane - meaning there was a serious risk of collision.
The maximum height that a drone can be flown legally in the UK is 400ft.
Both devices also appeared to be flying outside the 5km restriction zone for drones that is applied from the end of every airport runway in the UK, according to the Daily Mail.
The devices were first noticed by the first officer of the aircraft, who then alerted the captain.
They were “clearly identifiable as two identical drones in the shape of two ‘3’s flying in a lateral formation’”, the report said.
The pilots of the drone were never found.
“In the Board's opinion the reported altitude and/or description of the object were sufficient to indicate that it could have been a drone,” the report said.
“The Board considered that providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed.”
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We take such matters extremely seriously and our pilots report incidents so that the authorities can investigate and take appropriate action.”
It is not the first time that a BA flight has come close to crashing into a drone.
Last January, a drone passed within five feet of an A321 plane flying over Kent. The aircraft had only just taken off from Heathrow and was en route to Greece.
A report by the UK Airprox Board found the drone had passed down the right-hand side of the aircraft and over their right wing.
