Niall O'Connor

THE PILOT OF a civilian airplane reported seeing a large drone off the Irish coast this evening as the plane was on approach to Dublin Airport. 

The pilot of the Aer Lingus Regional plane told Dublin Air Traffic Control that the drone was spotted at the same altitude as the plane, around 6,000 feet in the sky. 

It was a maximum of two miles away from the plane, the pilot said. 

The drone was outside the 12-nautical-mile limit of Irish airspace.

Sources have confirmed that audio being shared online of the interaction between a pilot and Dublin Air Traffic Control is genuine.

In the recording, the pilot describes the unmanned aircraft as large and black and says it was seen on the left-hand side of the aircraft.

It is not known at this stage who was operating the drone or whether the incident was malicious.

The Coast Guard helicopter is now in the Irish Sea near the location where the drone was seen, but it has not been confirmed that it is part of an investigation into the incident.

The sighting comes months after The Journal revealed that four military-style quadcopter drones were spotted close to the glide path into Dublin Airport on the night of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Ireland last December.

It also comes days after a major security operation off the Wicklow coast during high-level meetings for Ireland’s EU presidency.

US President Donald Trump is due to visit Dublin and County Clare this weekend.

The Journal has asked for comment from the Irish Aviation Authority, AirNav Ireland and the Department of Transport.

The Department of Transport referred our query to Department of Defence. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.