The report said, external: “The object appeared to be approximately 2-3m in size at the very least, it may have been larger as it filled a good proportion of the windshield.
“The first officer observed that it was triangular in shape.
“The pilot stated that the object ‘went over us, probably within about 10 metres’,” the report said.
The UKAB, which monitors near misses in aviation, concluded that “providence had played a major part in the incident and a definite risk of collision had existed”.
The incident was immediately reported to air traffic controllers, the report said, although the drone operator was not located, according to the UKAB.
An Airbus A320 can carry as many as 180 passengers, although it is not know how many people were on board at the time or which airline it was operated by.
The rise in popularity of drones has been an ongoing issue for the aviation industry, particularly since a major incident affecting Gatwick Airport in December 2018.
Hundreds of thousands of people had their Christmas holiday plans ruined by drones being repeatedly flown near the airport, which police described as “deliberate act” of disruption.