British Airways flight misses drone by 5ft while flying at 250mph: Horror crash 9,600ft above Kent is narrowly dodged on jet from Greece to Heathrow during incredible close call

A British Airways flight came just 5ft away from crashing into a drone flying illegally at an altitude of 9,600ft over the Kent countryside, a report has revealed.

The flight from Athens, Greece, to London Heathrow Airport was carrying up to 180 passengers and flying at more than 400 km/h at the time of the incredible incident.

The incident is believed to be one of the closest crashes between a BA aircraft and a drone.

It happened shortly before 4.30pm on January 3 this year, as the Airbus A321 was heading to a holding area around six miles south of Sevenoaks while it waited its turn to join the final flight path to Heathrow. .

The drone was flying at 24 times the usual legal maximum height for the devices, which is just 400 feet.

The drone operator is believed to have never been found, but if he had been caught he could have been jailed for up to five years for endangering an aircraft.

A report by the United Kingdom’s Airprox Board that assesses near misses said pilots estimated the drone was about 5 feet above its wing and just 30 feet from its cockpit.

Pilots have repeatedly warned in recent years about the risk of drones causing potentially catastrophic damage by being sucked into a jet engine or breaking a windshield.

The height of the devices is typically restricted by software to 400 feet, but the limit can be overridden by a patch purchased online.

Additional batteries can also be installed to allow drones to soar to great heights.

It is believed that the unscrupulous drone operator in the incident may have been trying to obtain dramatic video footage of a passenger plane in the air.

The report rated it as a category A incident where there was a serious risk of collision.

He said the plane was approaching its holding area when the pilot “noticed an object slightly to the right of the nose at the same level on a constant heading with a closing distance.”

The report added: “It was small, but had the distinctive shape of a drone. The object passed along the right side of the aircraft and over its right wing.

“The details were immediately passed on to ATC (air traffic control) in London, who informed the pilot of the plane behind them.”

The BA pilot rated the risk of collision as high, saying the object had “shot over our right side” and describing it as “extremely close”.

The report adds: ‘Radar analysis conducted by Security Investigations indicated that there were no primary or secondary contacts associated with the drone report visible on radar at the approximate time of the event.

It concluded: ‘In the Board’s opinion, the reported altitude and/or description of the object was sufficient to indicate that it may have been a drone.

“The Board considered that the pilot’s overall account of the incident portrayed a situation in which providence had played a significant role in the incident and/or there had been a clear risk of a collision.”

A British Airways spokesperson said: “We take these matters very seriously and our pilots report incidents so that authorities can investigate and take appropriate action.”