Hit the high spots! Drone collides with passenger jet in London

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said a pilot on an inbound flight into Heathrow Airport from Geneva "reported to police that he believed a drone had struck the aircraft" at around 12.50pm.

Upon investigation it transpired that an object, "believed to be a drone," had struck the front of the aircraft.

BA said the plane was examined by engineers and cleared to take off for its next flight following the incident, according to ITV.

The object has since been recovered and multiple reports suggest it was a drone, flow by unknown persons.

No-one so far has been arrested and aviation police based at Heathrow are investigating the incident, the spokeswoman added.

Last summer Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued a "drone code," which says that unmanned craft should not be flown above 120 meters feet and kept away from planes, helicopters, airports and airfields.

Those with cameras fitted should also be kept 50 meters from people, vehicles, buildings and other structures.

In March, a report released by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) found there were 23 near misses between drones and aircraft in the six months between April and October last year.

On September 22, 2015, a Boeing 777 that had just taken off reported that a drone narrowly passed the right hand side of the airliner. Investigators concluded that the drone was at the same height and within 25 meters of the jet.

In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that there had been nearly 650 incidents of rogue drones endangering aircraft this year, more than double the total in 2014.

The incidents include drones flying into restricted air zones, close call collisions with commercial aircraft and interference in firefighting operations in California. Several rogue-drones have also threatened the security of President Barack Obama.

Kazinform refers to Sputniknews.com