The near miss happened above the coast of Kent (Picture: Getty)
An easyJet plane carrying 180 people almost crashed with an ‘unidentified flying object’ believed to be a drone, a report has revealed.
The Airbus A230, which departed from Gatwick, was 16,000ft above the coast of Kent when the near miss happened.
The first officer got alarmed by a ‘thud’, fearing something had hit the aircraft.
The two pilots later described seeing a ‘black, cylindrical’ device heading towards them around 20 miles to the west of Dover, the Sun reported.
‘We very nearly just hit a drone. We’re talking less than 10ft,’ the captain told air traffic controllers.
‘We don’t think we’ve hit it, there was a bit of a thud, we’ll come back to you.’
The EasyJet plane departed Gatwick Airport on the morning of July 5 (Picture: Reuters)
If it was a drone, it would have been 40 times above its permitted height (400ft).
Drone pilots are warned to stay well away from airports, airfields, spaceports and aircrafts.
Anyone endangering the safety of a plane with such a device, could go to prison for up to five years.
But an inspection in Greece, where the flight landed, revealed no damage to the jet.
The pilot later confirmed the easyJet plane did not hit the drone.
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‘We discussed that the thud the first officer heard was likely from the cabin,’ they added.
The UK Airprox Board, which probes near misses, rated the incident Category A, meaning there was a serious risk of a collision.
It said there was enough evidence to conclude the object ‘could have been a drone’.
EasyJet confirmed it is aware of the incident on July 5 this year, adding that it fully supports any investigation.
A spokesperson added: ‘Safety is always easyJet’s highest priority and our flight crew acted in accordance with our standard operating procedures to ensure the safety of the flight was not compromised.’
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‘We very nearly just hit a drone.’
