‘Near miss’ between plane and drone

Air safety chiefs have investigated the first near miss between a passenger plane and a drone near England’s Heathrow Airport, amid fears that drones could pose a danger to commercial flights.

The UK Airprox Board, which will publish its findings on Friday, is expected to record an incident risk rating of A — the highest of five categories — defined as a “serious risk of collision”.

The report, seen by the The Sunday Times, said the pilot of the Airbus A320 spotted the drone, which failed to show up on air traffic control systems, at 2.16pm on July 22 while flying at an altitude of over 200m.