An airliner carrying 296 passengers came within 30 metres of crashing into a drone as it landed at London, according to a report.
The Saudia jet was coming into land at Heathrow airport in July this year when the pilots reported the suspected drone. They first saw the drone as they flew underneath it, just 30 metres below. They were still doing 273kph and were just 182 metres off the ground.
The copilot reported the near-collision to the Heathrow Tower. According the to the report by UK Airprox Board, the co-pilot said he did "not recognise the object as a drone seen close up, but it was definitely black in colour and looked solid and had a constant shape unlike a bird".
"The fact that he could pick out in a few seconds that it was not completely uniform made him think that it was probably closer than he first thought".
The incident was rated as a Category B incident and make the comment that "safety had been much reduced below the norm to the extent that safety had not been assured.".
The report includes 4 other drone incidents in July as well as 2 in August, including a Category A at Belfast City Airport involving a 4 seater Cessna 172 which passed within 5 metres of a drone while flying at 1600 feet.