FR2105 - Incident: Ryanair B738 at Cologne on Feb 18th 2026

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-DWT performing flight FR-2105 from Alicante,SP (Spain) to Cologne/Bonn (Germany), was on final approach to Cologne's runway 06 when the separation between a military drone and the aircraft reduced to 9m (30 feet) horizontal and 28 meters (92 feet) vertically. The aircraft continued the approach and landed without further incident.

In August 2026 Germany's BFU released their interim report rating the occurrence a serious incident and summarizing the sequence of events:

On the day of the occurrence, the German Armed Forces conducted flights with civil UAS for training operating personnel of a Radio Detection and Intervention System (RaDIS). The flight took place in the area of the air force barracks Köln-Wahn which is located within the control zone (TMA3) of Koeln/Bonn Airport.

On 19 January 2026, the responsible air navigation service provider approved the flights. According to the phone call recording of the German Armed Forces instructor with the tower coordinator, the training was announced at 12:06 hrs4 and the tower coordinator had confirmed it. The instructor had asked to be warned of rescue helicopters arriving and departing, which had been confirmed as well.

At 12:30 hrs, the briefing for the conduct of the flights was performed. The instructor had positioned several guards equipped with radios on the training area who should inform him about approaching or departing aircraft by radio. He would then warn the remote pilot so that he would be able to land the UA immediately.

At 13:00 hrs, the training began with an UAS which was not involved in the serious incident. At 13:29 hrs, the remote pilot started the UA Autel EVO Max 4T, which was involved in the serious incident, and flew it into the training area at 40 m AGL. At 13:31 hrs, the remote pilot noticed an approaching passenger aircraft to runway 06 of the airport and steered the UA upwards to avoid collision. At the same time, he swivelled the camera downward and saw on the display of the remote control the passenger aircraft passing by beneath the UA.

The training was aborted, the UA flown back to the home position and landed. At 13:34 hrs, the instructor once again called the tower coordinator and informed him about the airprox involving the passenger aircraft and its landing on runway 06. The call was transferred to the tower controller who reported that he had been informed that during the training IFR traffic would be fully possible and that the tower had to keep the area only clear of helicopters and VFR traffic. During the call, it was agreed that the training be continued and that the tower would call if the runway would be needed for IFR traffic.

Then the training was continued without further incidents.
Related Flight: FR2105, Ryanair News