British Airways flight has near-miss with Chinese lantern at 20,000ft

A 'definite risk of collision existed'

A Chinese lantern was spotted within 100ft of the flight (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A British Airways flight had a near-miss with a Chinese lantern where there was “a definite risk of collision”, a report has revealed.

The lantern came within 100ft of a Saab 2000 high-speed turboprop jet as it was flying at 20,000ft between the Isle of Man and London City Airport on 30 July.

The UK Airprox Board, which assesses near-misses involving aircraft, classed the incident as a Category A in its latest report, concluding: “the pilot’s overall account of the incident portrayed a situation where providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed.”

The report added that “an object resembling a Chinese lantern was seen as it passed down the left side of the aircraft, slightly above”.

The pilots notified air traffic control of the potential collision, which took place at around 5.30pm.

A British Airways spokesperson told The Independent: “The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority.

“We take such matters extremely seriously and encourage our pilots to report sightings so that the authorities can investigate and take the appropriate action.”

Most of the Airprox reports concern near-misses with drones, with the number of these happening each year steadily increasing as drone use becomes more common.

Since 2014, the number of recorded incidents involving drones and aircraft has risen by 1,850 per cent, going from six near-collisions in a year to 117 in 2018.

Virgin Atlantic called for tougher drone regulations in October after it emerged that one of its aircraft was involved in one of the closest ever near-misses to happen in the UK.

The drone avoided impact with the B787-9 Dreamliner by just 10ft.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that the incident, which took place on 25 June, was believed to be among the closest times a drone has come to hitting a commercial aircraft in this country.

Heading from Delhi, India to London Heathrow airport, the Virgin Atlantic flight was in its descent over Clapham Common when the drone was spotted below its right wing.

“It’s vital that action is taken to regulate the use of drones near airports, and we urge the government to consider further proposals,” said a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson at the time.