Drone near-miss on final: safety, reporting and evidence
At 14:22 UTC, Skyline 412, a Boeing 737 on a 3 NM final to Runway 24 at a regional Irish airport, reports: 'Skyline 412, a black drone passed about 100 feet below and left of us; we are continuing.' The airport lies in Class C airspace. The drone was not notified to ATC. The aircraft lands safely. Two minutes later the tower phone rings: a member of the public says he was flying a drone from a field 2 km from the threshold and 'only went up to 120 metres'. You have another arrival on a 6 NM final. Sunset is 16:40. The airport has a mandatory occurrence reporting procedure and a letter of agreement with the IAA. Radar and voice recording systems are running. The caller gives his name but asks to leave.
1. What are your immediate actions in the first five minutes, and in what order? Justify the priorities.
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Protect the next arrival first. The drone is still airborne and the aircraft on 6 NM final is the only traffic at immediate risk. Pass a caution: 'Drone reported about 100 ft below a 737 on 3 NM final, Runway 24', ask the crew to report if they see it, and be ready to send it around. Do not leave the frequency to deal with the phone.
Record the Skyline crew's report verbatim: time, position, altitude, colour and direction of movement. Record the caller's details, but do not promise confidentiality and do not detain him.
Tell the supervisor and airport operations; ask operations to send a safety vehicle to the field and check whether the drone is still flying.
If the drone is still up and the caller is cooperative, ask him to land it immediately. If he refuses or the hazard continues, contact An Garda Siochana.
Update the ATIS if the hazard persists and warn subsequent arrivals. The order is: stop the conflict, preserve evidence, then report.
2. Which reports are required, by whom, and within what timeframe? Distinguish internal, national and European obligations.
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This is a serious incident: an aircraft on final was endangered by a drone at about 2,000 ft, far above the 120 m (400 ft) open-category ceiling. The ANSP occurrence reporting procedure should be triggered immediately, with an internal report to the safety manager and a report to the airport operator.
Under Regulation (EU) 376/2014, the mandatory occurrence report must go to the competent authority, in Ireland the IAA, within 72 hours of the occurrence. If facts are incomplete, submit an initial notification within 72 hours and follow up. The reporter is the person who knows the facts; the ANSP must not filter or delay the report.
A separate report may be needed to An Garda Siochana if there is evidence of reckless or endangering operation, and the airport operator may report under its own safety management system. The drone operator's identity and the phone call should be included, but the report is for safety, not punishment.
3. What evidence must be preserved, and what are the consequences of failing to preserve it?
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Preserve voice recordings (tower, approach and telephone), radar or ADS-B tracks, surface movement radar if fitted, the ATIS log, the MET record and the controller's notes and strips. Recordings are normally retained for at least 30 days, but once an occurrence is known they must be quarantined so automatic overwrite cannot destroy them. If the phone call is not recorded, make a contemporaneous written note.
Chain of custody matters if the IAA or An Garda Siochana investigates. Failure to preserve is itself a reportable safety issue: it prevents trend analysis, obstructs the investigation and can breach the ANSP's approval. It also weakens just-culture protection, because the facts become unverifiable and the controller's account is harder to support.