US sees big surge in close calls with drones

Potential threat: As more and more small radio-controlled drones appear in American skies, so do worries that someday, one might bump into a full-sized airplane

WASHINGTON: It was a fine summer day over the airport at Charlotte, North Carolina and a CRJ200 commuter jet was preparing to land when its pilots spotted something odd outside their cockpit window – a drone. 

The unmanned craft flew about five to 10 feet (1.5-3 metres) above the plane, the captain wrote afterward to NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System.