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According to multiple reports, a passenger jet nearly collided with a drone near London Heathrow Airport this past July.
Citing the risks associated with a potential collision, the U.K. Airprox Board has investigated the situation and will release its findings later this week, according to The Guardian.
The incident, which occurred back on July 22, involved an Airbus A320 and an unmanned drone at an altitude of roughly 700 feet. In response to the report, the U.K. Airprox Board investigated the incident and assigned it an "A" risk rating, its highest possible rating. The letter is assigned when there is a "risk of collision," defined by the organization's website as "aircraft proximity in which serious risk of collision has existed."
More details surrounding the incident are likely to emerge when the board releases its full report.
British Airline Pilots Association general secretary Jim McAuslan is aware of the convenience drones can provide, but is also wary of the threat they pose to aircraft, per the Sunday Times via theLondon Evening Standard:
"The UK should become a 'safe drone zone' so we can make the most of the major business and leisure opportunities offered by remotely piloted aircraft, while protecting passengers, pilots and residents"
"The technology is developing quickly and we could see remote aircraft the same size as a Boeing 737 being operated commercially in our skies within 10 years," McAuslan added.
As McAuslan alluded to, the speedy development of technology and the availability of drones has lead to a number of close-call incidents having been reported of late.
Last month, the FBI and FAA began investigating a series of drone sightings by pilots at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
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