Near Collision with Drone Involving Avro 146-RJ100 HB-IYT

Incident Overview and Aircraft Details On 19 June 2016, at 13:26:20 UTC, an Avro 146-RJ100 with registration HB-IYT was operating a scheduled flight from Zurich (LSZH) to London City (EGLC) under instrument flight rules. The aircraft was operated by Swiss Global Air Lines AG and owned by Triangle Regional Aircraft Leasing Limited. The flight carried 87 passengers and 4 crew members. The pilot flying was a Swiss citizen with 15,500 total flight hours, while the pilot monitoring was an Italian citizen with 188 total flight hours. ## Sequence of Events During the approach to London City Airport, the aircraft was aligned to the localizer for runway 27 in good visual meteorological conditions. At approximately 3,000 ft AMSL and 6 nautical miles from the runway threshold, the pilot monitoring spotted a yellow-colored drone crossing the flight path at the same altitude, approximately 20 meters away. No radio message was sent to Thames Radar control center regarding the near collision. The flight crew continued the approach and landed without incident. After landing, the crew informed the Swiss duty officer, who reported the incident to the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB). ## Investigation Context and Conclusions The STSB noted that reports of air proximity hazards between aircraft and unmanned aircraft have been increasing globally, with drones accounting for the majority of these incidents. Data from the UK Airprox Board indicated a significant number of reported airproxes between drones and aircraft in the vicinity of London airports in 2015 and 2016. The investigation concluded that even in good visual conditions, the drone was detected only at a late stage, making evasive maneuvers unlikely if a collision course had existed. The STSB recommended prompt radio messages to alert other flight crews and emphasized the need for measures to detect unmanned aircraft on radar and via onboard collision warning devices.