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posted by janrinok on Thursday May 31 2018, @02:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the government-v-government dept.

A police drone had a "near-miss" with a fighter jet travelling at 520mph (836km/h), a report has revealed.

The drone's operator "honestly believed" the two would collide in mid-air, according to [PDF] the UK Airprox Board. It said the risk of a crash above Throwleigh, Devon, was "high" but the officer had lowered the drone quickly. Devon and Cornwall Police said it had notified Airprox, which was "content that there was no blame nor any lessons to be learned".

The drone was flying at an altitude of about 300ft (90m) on 16 January, according to the report. "The jet came into view from right to left and seemed to pass by the drone at the same altitude; it looked like the jet was within 200m laterally of the drone. Once the jet was in view it started banking to the right and [the operator] honestly believed it was going to collide with the drone."

"The jet continued and was followed a few seconds later by a second jet."

The F-15 pilot, who was flying at an altitude of 500ft (152m), could not see the drone, the report added. The board said the case had prompted discussions about whether the service which helps the military plan routes through UK airspace should incorporate information from other sources.


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by sjames on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:42PM (2 children)

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday May 31 2018, @07:42PM (#686891) Journal

    Plane hits a BIRD and it's "OMG WE HAVE TO BAN DRONES". Airline pilot sees something in the distance below that he can't identify and it's "OMG WE HAVE TO REGULATE DRONES!!!". Military pilot actually has what a normal person would call a near-miss (as in "Bring me my brown pants!") with a police drone and it's "YAWN!!!".

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @05:41PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @05:41PM (#687344)

    Military pilot actually has what a normal person would call a near-miss (as in "Bring me my brown pants!") with a police drone and it's "YAWN!!!".

    Neither fighter pilot noticed anything so it is unlikely that any pants were soiled in the air.

    Only the drone operator thought it was a near miss. Humans are notoriously bad at judging the relative positions of objects in the sky by sight. And the report makes this point pretty clearly:

    ... although the drone operator perceived that the F15s were extremely close to his drone, in actuality they appeared to have sufficient separation.

    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Friday June 01 2018, @08:06PM

      by sjames (2882) on Friday June 01 2018, @08:06PM (#687422) Journal

      However, note the stark contrast with previous situations now that it's a police drone and not citizen. None of the incidents presented any threat whatsoever, and the only one that did real damage was a bird.