DRONES were flown close to passenger planes at Edinburgh Airport in two separate incidents just three days apart, an official probe has revealed.
In the second of the near misses, the pilot of an Airbus A319 was landing on July 30 when a white or grey drone came within 100 metres.
The plane was at an altitude of 500 feet. The drone was moving from left to right and passed clear of the aircraft down the right side.
The incident was reported to the Edinburgh Tower controller by the pilot who assessed the risk of collision as “medium.”
The UK Airprox Board – which investigates reported near misses – said the drone was being flown in the vicinity of an airfield approach path “such that it was endangering other aircraft at that location and altitude”.
In the earlier incident on July 27, a Boeing 757 was climbing out of Edinburgh at 3,500 feet when the first officer observed a drone to the left of the aircraft at a distance of about 500 metres.
Again the board agreed that the drone was flown into conflict with the plane and although safety had been reduced, there had been no risk of collision.
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