Drone comes dangerously close to Turkey-bound jet
A private drone and a business jet came dangerously close to each other over the Swiss capital of Bern. An investigation has been opened into the incident.
According to the preliminary report published by the Swiss Transport Safety Investigation Board (STSB) on Wednesday, a Bombardier BD 700 business aircraft was en route on June 2 from Berne-Belp airport to the Turkish city of Antalya.
Shortly after take-off, the pilots noticed that a drone was approaching their aircraft. The risky scenario occurred at an altitude of 1200 meters. The report does not specify how close the remotely operated vehicle approached the aircraft. The STSB does not provide information on the drone pilot at fault, nor on the size and type of the drone. Investigations are ongoing.
It is estimated that there are around 100,000 drones in private possession in Switzerland. The airspace extending 5km around airports are no-fly zones for drones. This is not the first incident of near-collision with a drone. Last year, a drone nearly collided with an Airbus A330 at Zurich Airport. Such near-mishaps are becoming more commonplace, growing six-fold to 30 in 2016 up from just five in 2010.
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