A mid-air crash was narrowly avoided when a passenger plane flying over East Sussex came as close as 16ft to a suspected illegal drone, a report reveals.
The easyJet Airbus A320 was 5,000ft above ground, having taken off from Gatwick Airport, when the pilots spotted the object nearby.
Safety officials recorded it as a category A incident – the highest level of five, which meant there had been a serious risk of collision.
The incident happened at 3.21pm on 24 February as the jet was climbing to a cruising height above the countryside.
At first, the pilot thought the object was a bird before deciding it was a drone being flown illegally, according to a report by the UK Airprox Board, which investigates collision risks.
The maximum legal height at which drones may be flown in the UK is 400ft, so if the object was a drone, it was at more than 12 times the altitude limit.
Anyone caught flying a drone above 400ft or within an airport’s boundary faces an unlimited fine or up to five years in prison.
The A320 pilot immediately informed another plane in the area, as well as air-traffic controllers, who alerted other pilots taking off from Gatwick, the report says.
In December 2018, Gatwick had to close down for more than two days, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and costing over £50m, following 129 reports of drone sightings close to the runway.
Sussex Police said the shutdown was caused by the use of two drones by people who had “detailed knowledge” of the airport, but no one was ever charged.
The report on the latest incident says: “The A320 pilot reports climbing through 5,000ft when the first officer exclaimed that there was a bird ahead.
“They looked and caught sight of a dark-coloured object at about the 11 o’clock that passed very quickly down the left side, within 5-10m of the left wing.
“It did not look like a bird but like a fairly compact ‘package’ that glinted in the sun.”
The report says the object looked stationary, adding: “They both concluded that it was possibly a drone as it seemed to move up and then manoeuvred to the left out of the way.
“The pilot described it as silver in colour and definitely not a bird.”
The board considered that “providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed”.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “We are aware of the report and will always fully support any investigation.
“Safety is always easyJet’s highest priority, and our flight crew acted in accordance with our standard operating procedures to ensure the safety of the flight was not compromised at any time.”
The firm would not confirm how many passengers had been on the plane, nor the speed at which it had been travelling.
