Action over London - Curt Lewis

Party balloons almost bring down private jet flying above London Party balloons almost brought down a private jet in London last year (Picture: Getty) A bunch of party balloons almost brought down a private jet minutes after it had taken off from a central London airport. Thankfully, a pilot on board of the Cessna 560 spotted the bundle of 20 yellow and black balloons shortly after take off and shouted 'Watch out!' to his colleagues, reports the Sun. Man found guilty of posting sex toys through neighbour's letterbox The quick thinking crew disconnected the autopilot and dodged them, passing just 6ft above it and 3ft to the left, around 2,300 ft in the air. Safety investigators said that a major incident was only prevented by 'good fortune'. The flight had taken off from London City airport and continued on its flight without any further problems. A Cessna 560 aircraft was almost brought down by the balloons (File picture: Tomas Del Coro) The flight had taken of from London City airport just minutes earlier (Picture: PA) The near-miss on October 6 was one of 15 incidents discussed at the latest meeting of the UK Airprox Board (UKAB), who aim to improve air safety in the UK. MORE: UK The biggest moments from Donald Trump's interview with Piers Morgan Children's putty pulled from Amazon over arsenic fears Amateur boxer who punched a pregnant woman in the stomach jailed The UKAB classed the incident as having the most serious risk of collision. They said: 'Providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed.'

Heathrow jet narrowly avoids disaster after unmanned drone passes within FIVE FEET of the pilot's window The first officer of the A321 jet saw the drone pass within five feet of his window The Airbus was flying at 1,700 feet over Kew in West London on October 25 Safety watchdogs said the chance of the drone hitting the Airbus was 'high' Several other drone incidents were reported recently around Manchester The pilot of an Airbus A321 passenger jet arriving at Heathrow thought he hit a 'three or four engine drone' approaching the airport after spotting the device less than five feet from the aircraft. The jet was flying at 1,700 feet over Kew in West London on October 25, at 11.50am when the jet's first officer spotted the drone out of his window at a range of about 5 feet. The crew believed the drone was so close to the jet that there was no way it could not avoid striking the aircraft's tail. Fortunately the aircraft was able to land on runway 27 left without incident and engineers found no evidence that the jet had been damaged by the drone. The aircraft was later released back into service after a full inspection. However, the flight crew reported the incident to the UK Airprox Board, who assemble evidence of near misses in UK air space - including incidents involving drones. According to the Airprox board the drone was being 'flown in the vicinity of an airfield approach' and 'was endangering other aircraft at that location and altitude'. The report concluded: 'The Board considered that the pilot's estimate of separation, allied to his overall account of the incident and his inability to avoid the drone portrayed a situation where providence had played a major part in the incident and / or a definite risk of collision had existed'. Other drone incidents included an Airbus A320 on short finals at Manchester's 23 Right runway when a passenger, who is also a qualified A320 pilot saw a 'quadcopter' pass 50 feet to the right and 50 feet below the aircraft. Neither of the pilots on the flight deck spotted the drone which happened about 500 feet above the ground on November 4. On November 17, around four miles north east of Manchester airport a Dornier 328 spotted a drone at around 1,400 feet while approaching the airfield. The pilot said he spotted the object 'slightly ahead and below' his aircraft. He said there was ''very little time from first sighting to it passing behind and out of view'. The Airprox report said the chance of collision between the drone and the aircraft was 'high'.