Drone came within a metre of smashing into a passenger plane at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport
Ministers are now working to crackdown on drones in British airspace and will publish new guidelines for owners
A DRONE missed a passenger jet by just one metre as it came into land at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport.
Ministers are now working to crackdown on drones in British airspace and will publish new guidelines for owners.
Rules will include compulsory registration for owners and beacons embedded in the devices to make them more visible to air traffic controllers.
It comes after a drone was just one metre away from colliding with a passenger plane coming in to land at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
It is believed to be the closest near-miss of its kind on record, according to .
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The drone wing-tip of an Airbus A319 at 2,500ft on April - potentially causing a catastrophic collision.
The UK Airprox Board, which promotes air safety, said that the “only reason there was not a collision was down to luck”.
They added: "It was initially presumed to be a bird,” the board said. “However, as it got closer the [flying officer] realised it was a blue drone with flashing lights . . . His inability to avoid the object portrayed a situation where providence had played a major part in the incident.”
The board said yesterday that drones or balloons had come close to hitting aircraft 22 times in the first four months of this year.
Ministers are hoping make it a criminal offence to illegally operate drones in "no fly zones" around airports or prisons.
Fines for committing the offence could exceed the current maximum of £2,500, according to the newspaper.
Current rules under the Civil Aviation Authority state that drones can't be flown higher than 400ft and those with fitted cameras can't fly within 164ft of people, vehicles or buildings.