Drones once again made headlines last week after several airline pilots flying around John F. Kennedy International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world with more than 400,000 annual aircraft movements, spotted at least one drone flying around the airport property at altitudes as high as 3,000 feet, according to a statement from the FAA.
FAA regulations prohibit model aircraft, the rules of which drones fall under unless they are used for commercial purposes, from flying higher than 400 feet or closer than five miles from an airport, and the aircraft must remain within line of sight of the operator.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a JetBlue Airbus A320 pilot saw an unmanned aircraft about two miles from JFK on Wednesday. On Sunday evening, a drone was seen by a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 pilot at 2,000 to 3,000 feet about 10 miles from the airport. The same night, a drone came as close as five to 10 feet from the left wing of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 while approaching JFK. None of the pilots who reported seeing the drone took evasive action to avoid the drone and all of the airplanes landed safely, according to the FAA.
Since these sightings pose a potential threat to a large number of people inside the aircraft in the skies and people on the ground, the FAA is taking the incidents very seriously. The FBI is involved in the investigation into where the drone at JFK may have come from.
The incident came during the same week that the National Transportation Safety Board overturned a judge’s initial decision regarding the Raphael Pirker case. The Board determined drones are in fact classified as aircraft, which means the FAA can now move forward with its case to determine whether Pirker was flying his drone around the campus of the University of Virginia Medical Center in a careless and reckless manner. The FAA had initially imposed a $10,000 fine on Pirker.
Several years ago, a video surfaced online of a near collison between a drone and Airbus A300.
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