A PLANE was involved in a near miss with a commercial drone near Glasgow Airport.

The tail of the Loganair aircraft, en route from Sumburgh in Shetland with 22 passengers and three crew on board, was inspected because the crew thought it might have been hit, according to a report by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB).

The incident, which happened on November 24 last year when the plane was nine miles from the airport at an altitude of 3000ft, was rated as having the highest degree of risk. The captain and first officer said the drone was dark or black and about one metre wide. It passed about five metres above the captain’s window and was moving at “high speed” in a straight line. The UKAB stated “a definite risk of collision had existed”.

Loganair chief operations officer Maurice Boyle said: “This was potentially a very serious incident. Penalties should be substantially increased.”