The incident, which occurred on 1 September while the aircraft was landing, was rated a “Category A” event by the UK Airprox Board, an organisation that monitors safety and investigates crashes and near-miss events.
According to the tabloid, the pilots were informed that a police helicopter had seen a lantern flying in the sky following the incident.
It is suspected that the incident occurred three days after an Airbus 320 carrying 186 passengers was involved in a near-miss with a drone flying 20 times above the permitted limit. The drone flew less than a meter from the plane, which had just taken off from Manchester Airport, according to The Sun.
The UK Airprox Board's report states that in September there were nine cases of near misses involving drones or unknown objects in the United Kingdom.
