The flight from Athens, Greece , to London 's Heathrow airport was carrying up to 180 passengers and flying at more than 250mph at the time of the incredible close call.
Were you on the flight? Email: [email protected] British Airways flight came just 5ft away from smashing into an illegally-flown drone at a height of 9,600ft over the Kent countryside, a report has revealed.
The BA flight that came dangerously close to hitting a drone. The drone was being flown at 24 times the usual maximum legal height for the devices which is just 400ft It is believed that the operator of the drone was never found, but if caught they could have been jailed for up to five years for endangering an aircraft.
The height of the devices is normally restricted by software to 400ft, but the limit can be over-ridden by a patch bought on the internet.It is thought that the unscrupulous drone operator in the incident might have been trying to get dramatic video footage of an airliner in mid-air.It said that the aircraft was approaching its holding stack when the pilot ‘became aware of an object slightly to the right of the nose at same level on a constant bearing with closing distance’.
The report added: ‘Analysis of the radar by Safety Investigations indicated that there were no primary or secondary contacts associated with the drone report visible on radar at the approximate time of the event.
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