A plane descending to land at Gatwick Airport was at “high risk” of colliding with a drone when it flew just 40ft away from the aircraft in a suspected “deliberate obstruction”.
Flight controllers at Gatwick went on to suspend aircraft movements after the pilot of a A321 aircraft less than 500ft on its approach to Gatwick spotted and announced a drone at a very short distance away.
Crew working at the time of the incident on February 26 at 4.40pm thought the “large” drone was being flown as a "deliberate obstruction".
The drone was reported to be passing the pilots' two o'clock to the right-hand side, and was large, black and had an orange/yellow stripe on it, Sussex Live reports.
It was around 50m from the cockpit and approximately 30-40ft below them.
Pilots were unable to take any avoiding action due to the late sighting of the drone, the speed it passed their fully stable and configured short final into Gatwick and proximity to the ground.
The pilots said the drone was positioned in a way that gave them no doubt that it was intentionally flown there.
A report issued by the UK Airprox Board states the reported risk of collision was "high".
Pilots advised Gatwick Tower of the drone and made a normal and safe landing into the West Sussex airport.
They then gave further details to Gatwick Ground and the captain later gave a statement to the police.
The aircraft landed without incident at 4.41pm.
Upon vacating the plane, the crew reported they felt the drone was a "deliberate obstruction".
As a result of this, aircraft movements at Gatwick Airport were suspended for 19 minutes until a drone assessment could be completed by the Airport Authorities.
The ground movement controller subsequently advised them that the crew had reported the drone was observed at approximately 600ft from touchdown on the approach, it had black with yellow markings and had passed 40 yards to the right and approximately 40ft below them.
The crew repeated their view that the drone was a "deliberate obstruction" towards their flight.
The Gatwick air traffic control safety officer confirmed that the drone was not known to them.
A Gatwick Airport spokesperson said: "Passenger safety remains the airport’s absolute priority and we can confirm that all flights were suspended at Gatwick from 4.41pm until 5pm on February 26 due to a reported sighting of an unmanned aerial vehicle close to the airport perimeter.
"Gatwick and the Police followed established procedures and flights resumed after an investigation deemed there to be no threat to the airfield."
