Aviation police investigate after reports drone spotted near Heathrow Airport

Officers with the aviation wing of the Metropolitan Police are investigating two reports of a drone being spotted near Heathrow Airport.

The Met's Aviation Policing Twitter account revealed at 11.45am on Monday (October 10) that officers were responding to the reports.

Tweets also highlighted the danger and illegality of flying a drone near an airport.

The tweet from Aviation Policing said: “Officers are responding to two reports of a drone sighting near the approach to Heathrow. This is both dangerous and illegal.”

An investigation was launched in April afte r it was believed a drone collided with a passenger plane near Heathrow.

But it was later ruled that the aircraft probably was not hit by a drone.

In September 2015, a drone came within metres of colliding with a passenger jet at Heathrow, and in January last year a runway was closed after a drone was spotted.

The head of the Metropolitan Police Aviation Policing Command, Chief Superintendent Martin Hendy, said: “The message is do not fly them anywhere near airports or flight paths, or over crowded places such as football and other stadiums. The potential is there for a major incident.

“One of the challenges is to ensure people realise what is legitimate and what is illegal.”