Government vows to tighten rules on drones after Heathrow incident

Moves to tighten rules on drones have been promised by the government after Labour and pilots unions called for urgent action, including a possible register of drone users and "geo-fencing" of airports, after a British Airways plane was struck on its descent into Heathrow. Sunday's incident is believed to be the first such collision between a passenger plane and a drone, after a series of near misses that led pilots to warn that a strike could be disastrous. The Air Accidents Investigations Branch said it would launch an inquiry. The Department for Transport (DfT) said it would hold a public consultation before a government strategy is published later this year. Labour has accused ministers of dragging their feet after aviation authorities confirmed a number of potentially serious incidents in 2015, including 23 near misses between aircraft and drones in six months investigated by the UK Airprox Board.