Germany's Lufthansa has confirmed an incident involving a near-miss between an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, and a Lufthansa Airbus A321 on approach to Munich Airport Aug. 4.
"We can confirm a disorder involving one of our aircraft and an object when on approach to Munich. Nothing happened; however, a drone has no place there. As the investigation is ongoing, I can't give any further information at the moment," Lufthansa spokesperson Michael Lamberty told ATW in Frankfurt.
The Lufthansa A321 was operating as scheduled service flight LH116 between Frankfurt and Munich with 108 passengers and six crew on board.
According to a statement from the Upper Bavaria Police Department-North, the pilot realized the UAV was near the aircraft on approach, descending through flight level 1,700 m (5,577 ft.) near the Bavarian village of Schwabhausen at 6:58 p.m. local time. A so-called quadrocopter drone passed the A321at same height - about 10 m/33 ft. off the right-hand wing tip.
The aircraft landed safely, with no injuries or damage.
Drone regulation has becoming an increasingly pressing issue for regulators worldwide as incidents increase, creating potentially dangerous situations. There have been an increasing number of UAV sightings by flight deck crews, particularly on the approaches to airports, and there are concerns the ingestion of a drone into an engine at a critical moment could pose a serious safety hazard.
In May, EASA created a task force to assess collision risks posted by small, unmanned UAVs to commercial aircraft.