Says The Arrival Was Accidental Due To High Winds Which Triggered Autoland Feature

A hobbyist's drone landed on the deck of Britain's newest aircraft carrier last month while she was docked in Invergordon in the Scottish Highlands.

Business Insider reports that the pilot, who has not been identified, recorded aerial video of HMS Queen Elizabeth, which was tied up to the docks and apparently largely empty at the time. Then, the aircraft landed on the flight deck and took photos of the aircraft.

The pilot had originally posted the video to Facebook, but it appears to have been taken down from the social media site.

In an interview with the BBC, the pilot says his drone landed on the deck of the carrier when high winds triggered the automatic landing feature of the DJI Phantom. But he also said it was surprised at how easy it was for him to get that close to the ship relatively unchallenged. He said he could have landed up to two kilos of explosives on the deck of the ship. "I would say my mistake should open their eyes to a glaring gap in security. This was a bit of tomfoolery but it could have been something terrible, not just for the ship and its crew but for the people of Invergordon," the pilot told the BBC.

A Ministry of Defense spokesman told the BBC that security measures have been "stepped up" as a result of the incident.

(U.K. MoD Image)

FMI: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence