L-Ne · Historical Source Library

News Source Record

# News Source Record

**L-Ne / Open-source news extract** — Original media coverage of unmanned aerial systems.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Collection date | 12 December 2014 |
| Platform | Quiet Systems |
| Data label | Open-source news record // LRRK collection product |
| Handling | Public-source material. Image rights require separate verification before publication. |
| Scale | National |
| Language | English |
| Terms matched | drone; remotely piloted aircraft; RPAS; model helicopter |

## Bibliographic

| Field | Value |
| Outlet | The Guardian |
| Title | Investigators confirm Heathrow plane in near miss with drone |
| Dateline | 12 December 2014, 18:15 UTC |
| First publisher | yes |
| Original URL | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/12/heathrow-plane-near-miss-drone |
| Archive URL | — |
| Dedup key | 2014-12-12|guardian|heathrow-ukab-category-a |
| Source grade | B1 |

## Record

**Verified extract — [Fact — B1]** The Guardian reported the UKAB finding that a device believed to be a drone passed about 20 ft over an inbound Heathrow A320's wing at 700 ft, 2.16pm on 22 July, appearing to be a radio-controlled helicopter. UKAB gave an A rating — a serious risk of collision. The model did not appear on radar. The board was unanimous the operator chose an inappropriate location and was heartened by CAA work to publicise remotely piloted aircraft operations. BALPA's Jim McAuslan called for a UK safe drone zone so RPAS sharing airspace with airliners would meet piloted-aircraft safety standards, including pilot-equivalent training; he said remote aircraft the size of a Boeing 737 could be commercial within 10 years. The University of Birmingham Policy Commission October report on RPAS misuse was cited.

**Kinematic object.** Untraced radio-controlled helicopter / RPAS on Heathrow final approach.

**Coverage frame.** incident / regulatory

## Source integrity

- Why this is treated as an original: Guardian original of the UKAB report plus BALPA safe drone zone and Birmingham commission context.
- Wire reprint status: Not a wire reprint. Same official report as BBC London that day; independent Guardian write-up.
- What was excluded: No new operator identity (none was found).

## LRRK relevance

Watch / Passport. Category A RPAS-airliner proximity used to argue equivalent-safety standards.

*LRRK — security assurance for systems that sense, move, and act.*

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