Lufthansa plane almost collides with drone near Warsaw

A Lufthansa plane nearly collided with a drone as it approached Warsaw worldwide airport, Polish officials have revealed.

The incident happened on Monday afternoon with the drone coming within 300ft (100m) of the plane from Munich, Germany, an airport spokesman said.

Police are investigating the incident to determine who operated the drone.

The plane carrying about 100 people still landed safely, but air traffic controllers directed 20 other planes to land at a different entry lane, according to Spiegel Online.

A drone had a near-miss with a plane at Heathrow Airport last July that resulted in calls for tougher regulations of the booming UAV sector as well as stricter requirements for their operators.

Lufthansa has been more cautious in declaring the object a drone, with spokeswoman Bettina Rittberger saying that “a black object appeared on the right side of the plane”, and that the crew “supposed that this object could be a drone”.

The aircrafts are cheap and easy to purchase in Poland.

The incident recalls a similar near collision in May near LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

Anyone wishing to fly a drone beyond that exclusion zone and in controlled airspace must request permission from air traffic authorities and fly no higher than 50 metres, depending on the size of the aircraft.

Monika Scislowska contributed to this report. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.