Four aircraft have been involved in potentially fatal near-misses with drones close to major British airports in the past month, The Times has learnt.
Ministers are considering taking action against the use of unmanned aircraft after a surge in the number of drones being flown only a few metres from jets during take-offs and landings, it emerged.
The four incidents recorded in recent weeks took place close to Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, Birmingham and London City.
There were previously seven recorded near-misses involving drones in the 12 months to July, according to The Times.
Ministers are now considering taking action against the use of unmanned aircraft after a surge in the number of drones being flown by members of the public.
Under new plans, owners would have to register their devices on a special tracking database
The law already states that drones must not be flown within 150 metres of any congested area, or within 50 metres of buildings not owned by their operator. There are also exclusion areas around airports.
Now, the Government is set to introduce a range of measures to regulate the use of unmanned aircraft, including a parallel air traffic control system to monitor drones in British airspace.
It is likely to involve fitting all new drones with chips that would emit a GPS-style signal.
Ministers are also looking into introducing an online registration system requiring owners of drones to enter their details on a database before they can fly a device.
The measures would enable officials to track the owners of drones being flown illegally, including those flying close to airports and built-up areas.
Users can be jailed for up to five years for endangering an aircraft.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said: ‘It is vital that people observe the rules when operating a drone.
‘Users must understand that when putting a device into the air they are interacting with one of the busiest areas of airspace in the world – a complex system that brings together all manner of aircraft, including passenger aeroplanes, military jets, helicopters, gliders, light aircraft and now drones.’
The seven near-misses recorded in the last year by the CAA include two Airbus A320 jets capable of carrying 150 passengers which came within less than 50 feet of the hobby aircraft – one of which whizzed passed by just 20 feet – when coming into land at Heathrow in July 2014 and March of this year.
In the first incident the remote-controlled device, flown by an unidentified amateur, was spotted by the airliner’s pilot but alarmingly was not detected by air traffic control radars.
The UK Airprox Board, the air safety panel that investigates near misses, gave the incident the highest risk rating of A, meaning there was a ‘serious risk of collision’.
Source: The Times; Daily Mail