Drones latest: New York and New Jersey airspaces restricted as officials demand Congress to pass legislation
The FAA has granted temporary flight restrictions over some of New York’s critical infrastructure sites, in a measure officials call ‘purely precautionary’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.New York and New Jersey airspace has been temporarily closed to drones, as authorities have worked to slow the number of sightings across the eastern US.
However, the measures were “purely precautionary,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul assured.
“I’ve spoken with Secretary Mayorkas multiple times and was just informed that he has coordinated with federal partners and the FAA plans to grant temporary flight restrictions over some of New York’s critical infrastructure sites — this action is purely precautionary; there [is] no threat to these sites,” she said.
Dozens of areas were affected by the restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Drones have also been spotted in Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, California and Florida.
Lawmakers have taken to social media to voice their concerns about what they said was a lack of communication from the federal government.
House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested this week that the Biden administration had brushed off the public’s concerns.
“This is why we need Donald Trump back in the White House, to bring a steady hand to the wheel and a strong commander-in-chief,” he told Fox and Friends.
A bill that would allow law enforcement to track drones was blocked.
Flight restrictions go in place across New Jersey for ‘security’ reasons as drones continue to fill the sky
‘It’s all bullsh**’: Moderator of drone subreddit quits over deluge of conspiracy theories about New Jersey sightings
How to tell the difference between a drone, a plane and a UFO- Mapped: All the locations of mass drone sightings in the last week
DHS says FAA restrictions ordered out of ‘an abundance of caution'
“We continue to assess there is no public safety threat relating to the reported drone sightings,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement provided to ABC News.
“In coordination with the FAA and our critical infrastructure partners who requested temporary flight restrictions over their facilities, out of an abundance of caution, the FAA has issued temporary flight restrictions over some critical infrastructure facilities in New Jersey.”
The Federal Aviation Administration explains decision on drone restrictions
“At the request of federal security partners, the FAA published 22 Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) prohibiting drone flights over critical New Jersey infrastructure,” the The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement reported by ABC News.
Drone expert talks about why not to shoot at possible drones
“Not only is it against the law, it’s incredibly dangerous. if you’re shooting at something in the sky that you’re not sure what it is, it could be a drone, sure. It could also be manned aircraft,” Vic Moss, CEO & Co-Founder of Drone Service Providers Alliance, told LiveNOW from FOX.
New Jersey drone behavior ‘not normal for aircraft,’ sergeant says
“We had something coming at us. And, as it’s coming at us, it stops. It does like a 180 in the air, and the drives away. And, it comes back and does like a giant ‘U’ around us,” Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Kevin Fennessy told CBS New York.
“So, that’s not normal for aircraft,” he noted.
New Jersey congressman says drones don’t seem to be targeting South Jersey’s sensitive facilities
New Jersey Rep. Donald Norcross said Thursday that drones flyin over his state don’t appear to be targeting sensitive or critical facilities in South Jersey.
“I’m reassured to see the increase in no-fly zones and specialized drone detection equipment aiming to keep drones away from sensitive facilities,” Norcross said in a statement. “Additionally, these facilities do not appear to have been inundated with many more sightings than other areas of the state in recent weeks.”
New York police say they can shoot drones out of the sky: ‘We don’t want to wait until we have some kind of disastrous event'
New York police say that they have the OK to shoot any troublesome drones out of the sky.
The order went out on Thursday, according to the New York Post.
“We don’t want to wait until we have some kind of disastrous event to then say, ‘Well, we could have done this and we could have done that,’” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told reporters.
Flight restrictions go in place across New Jersey for ‘security’ reasons as drones continue to fill the sky
Flight restrictions across New Jersey over ‘critical’ sites as drone wave continues
Bans above 22 pieces of ‘critical New Jersey infrastructure’ like power plants, last through mid-January
Pentagon says drone detection operations will continue despite potential shutdown
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday that drone detection operations would continue even if there is a government shutdown.
“We’re going to continue to do the operations as I highlighted. Military personnel, we’re going to continue to do operations necessary to protect and defend the nation,” he said.
“In so much as we need to protect our facilities or mitigate potential threats, we will be on point in doing that.”
Pentagon says leaders have authority to conduct mitigation operations if they perceive UAS activity to be a threat
“The bottom line is that our forces, our commanders, if they observe UAS activity that they believe represents a threat, they have the authority to conduct mitigation operations based on the capability at their location,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder said at a press conference on Thursday.
One capability, he highlighted, could be the non-kinetic interruption of signals.
Pentagon says majority of drone detection systems have deployed
“The majority of that capability has deployed. The rest should be arriving very shortly, if not imminently,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder said at a press conference on Thursday.
“That will be a combination of active and passive detection capabilities, as well as some counter-UAS capabilities, which would include non-kinetic types of systems like drone busters. Which essentially disrupts signals and effects the ability of these systems to fly,” he noted.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments