[Ragwing]

Listening in to my busy local regional airports app freq last w/e...a 321 pilot reported a drone just passed 50ft over the top of him at 7mls on the ILS.

I expected to hear about in the media but nothing.

[T67M]

No proof. Nothing on radar. No traceability. Very hard even to be certain it was a drone. Is it worth reporting? I've certainly not reported one possible airprox with a drone for those reasons.

[mick w]

A Party Balloon flashing past , can easily be mistaken for a Drone .

[Barcli]

IME yes

[riverrock]

Every miss should be submitted as an Airprox.

However things are only news when they don't happen frequently. There were 94 Airprox reported last year with drones and other small objects:
https://www.airproxboard.org.uk/uploade ... ation.xlsx
So its pretty rare that an individual event will be reported, unless it is a very slow news day.

[T67M]

In light of some of the comments I've received on here, I have just submitted an airprox for another "near miss" with a drone this afternoon - I'd estimate we were within 150m horizontally and 200' vertically, and this time I was close enough to be certain it was a drone, and almost close enough to a second object in the same general location to confirm that too (but not quite - it could have been a large white bird). I haven't submitted airproxes for the two helium balloons that I saw, nor the two birds that came quite close.

If I can see six on one hour-long flight, how many others aren't being spotted/reported?

[Irv Lee]

You weren't infringing Gatwick at the time were you?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40476264

[T67M]

You weren't infringing Gatwick at the time were you?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40476264

Fortunately no - and it was a couple of hours earlier too! That said, it was quite close to and ~1500' below where airliners intercept the ILS for Gatwick.