Mumbai, Feb 20 (TOI): The pilot of a New Delhi-bound IndiGo flight spotted a red drone at an altitude of around 18,000 feet, soon after take-off from the domestic airport on Sunday afternoon.

With the drone was flying at an altitude of around three nautical miles near the airport. The pilot immediately alerted the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of the domestic airport around 2.24pm. The ATC later informed the police control room for probe.

"The pilot saw the drone seconds after the flight took off from from run way side (number 9). The pilot said he saw it on the Western Express Highway (WEH) side of the airport," a police officer added. The Airport police have made a diary entry and alerted the police stations at Juhu, Vakola, Vile Parle and Santacruz about the incident.

On January 28, the pilot of a GoAir aircraft, approaching to land, spotted a drone flying at an altitude of 12,000 feet. The drone reportedly had four rotors and was flying at a horizontal distance of about two kilometres from the aircraft.