A LUFTHANSA plane approaching Warsaw’s international airport nearly collided with what appeared to be a drone, the first such incident involving the German airline, officials said Tuesday.

    The near-collision occurred Monday afternoon when a drone passed within 100 meters of the plane arriving from Munich, according to Przemyslaw Przybylski, the spokesman for Warsaw’s airport.

    Drones, unmanned flying aircraft operated by remote control, have been growing increasingly popular across the world, posing a threat to planes. In New York, a commercial airliner narrowly missed colliding midair with a drone as it neared LaGuardia airport in May.

    The biggest risk to planes from a drone is if it gets sucked into an engine and causes a stall, similar to the possible effects from a bird strike. Other threats to planes from a drone collision could be damage to critical flight equipment.

    Przybylski said the incident in Poland didn’t occur at the Warsaw Chopin Airport itself, but five kilometers away near Piaseczno, a town south of the capital.

    Police were investigating to determine who operated the drone, which shouldn’t have been where it was.  (SD-Agencies)