On 19th February, 5,500 feet above Paris, an Air France Airbus A320 was descending to land at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The first Officer spotted a rogue drone flying within 5 meters of the aircraft.
He had to disengage the autopilot and make an emergency manoeuvre to avoid the offending drone. The aircraft was descending at 1000 feet per minute and was doing 220 knots at the time. The drone passed 5 meters under the left wing of the Airbus. Way too close for comfort and the drone operator must have known what he was doing.
It has not been revealed how many people where on the plane at the time, which was returning from Barcelona, Spain.
In France the operational height limit for a drone is 500 feet, and they should not be flown within 9 miles of major airport like Charles de Gaulle.
If idiots such as this drone pilot, who needs to be located and ‘dealt’ with, continue to invade restricted areas like this then the authorities are going to restrict drone use even more. Not to mention the danger this presents to the travelling public. It is almost inevitable that a major incident is going to happen so we must instigate control measures which work.
Since the technology for detection and removal of drones is not quite ready yet, perhaps major airports should be using some form of observation to protect their skies.
The drone pilot community also need to help by informing on anyone they know of who is flaunting the law in such a dangerous way.
#CAA #FAA #FlySafe #Drone
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