Skip to main content

Quadcopter flown ‘deliberately’ at passenger plane in near-miss incident

quadcopter flown deliberately passenger plane near miss atr72
A twin-engine turboprop aircraft similar to the one involved in the Southend incident. Image used with permission by copyright holder
Extreme turbulence. Drunk passengers. Birds in the engine. Jerks with laser pens. Bombs in underpants. Missiles fired from war zones. Catastrophic mechanical failure. As if airline pilots (and passengers, too, for that matter) don’t already have enough to think about, buzzing into view comes the unmanned aerial vehicle, an increasingly popular machine that must be causing aviation bodies around the world rising concern.

In the latest of several known such incidents, a quadcopter appeared to be flown deliberately at a passenger plane in the UK as it came in to land at Southend airport, about 25 miles (15 miles) east of London.

The potentially disastrous incident took place in May though has only just come to light. The UK’s Airprox Board, which works to maintain safety in the skies above Britain, said in a report released in the past week that the remotely operated flying machine came “very close” to hitting the aircraft’s right wing.

The pilot of the 75-seat AT72-500 plane spotted the quadcopter at an altitude of about 460 meters (1500 feet) and assessed the risk of collision as “high.”

Airprox’s report said the co-pilot believed the drone had been flown “deliberately close to the AT72 because he had seen it around 100 meters away as it approached from the right-hand side and made a turn to fly in the opposite direction to his aircraft, around 25 meters away and at the same level.”

According to a transcript of the incident, air traffic controllers were already aware of “a couple” of other reports of quadcopters flying in the vicinity of the airport prior to this latest occurrence. Despite a search of the area and inquiries at local model aircraft flying clubs, the operator of the drone in Airprox’s report is yet to be traced.

Unfortunately this isn’t the first incident of its kind and almost certainly won’t be the last. Back in May the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that a US Airways passenger plane came close to colliding with an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The incident occurred at about 700 meters (2300 feet) near Tallahassee Regional Airport in Florida. In this case, the pilot of the 50-seat plane judged the remotely operated flying machine to have been a hobbyist’s model aircraft rather than a quadcopter.

FAA official Jim Williams said at the time that the drone had come so close to the passenger aircraft that the pilot was “sure he had collided with it.”

Williams insisted that “solutions and answers [for drones]” are urgently needed “before we risk the safety of the world’s safest aviation system.”

He added that if an unmanned aerial vehicle is ever sucked into an aircraft’s engine, “the results could be catastrophic.”

[Via Metro] [Image: Nitinut380 / Shutterstock]

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Meet the game-changing pitching robot that can perfectly mimic any human throw
baseball hitter swings and misses

Who’s your favorite baseball pitcher? Shane McClanahan? Sandy Alcantara? Justin Verlander? Whoever you said, two of the top sports-tech companies in the U.S. -- Rapsodo and Trajekt Sports -- have teamed up to build a robot version of them, and the results are reportedly uncannily accurate.

Okay, so we’re not talking about walking-talking-pitching standalone robots, as great a sci-fi-tinged MLB ad as that would be. However, Rapsodo and Trajekt have combined their considerable powers to throw a slew of different technologies at the problem of building a machine that's able to accurately simulate the pitching style of whichever player you want to practice batting against -- and they may just have pulled it off, too.

Read more
The best portable power stations
EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Read more
CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation
Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.

Read more