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My biggest question is what is a 'close call'? Is it something that a layperson would also agree is a close call? Some of the examples in the article don't sound too scary.

"Whizzed underneath aircraft as it approached a runway" leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Other examples in the article do sound more scary, but is that just cherry picking or typical?

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Technically, the FAA defines a "near mid air collision" as an incident where there was a possibility of collisions with a proximity of less then 500 feet.

Keep in mind that's an airbus A380 is approx. 240 ft. long, 260 ft. wide and 80 ft. tall.

In that context, 500 ft. is actually quite close.

Though in the context of drones being limited to 400 feet of altitude, the whole flight could be considered a near miss with the ground...

The way some people fly, it is.

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