iStockphoto
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a new alert banning drones from flying over a large portion of New Jersey. The reason for the unusual action was explained as being for “special security reasons.”
The New York Times reports this move by the FAA is “the first broad prohibition of its kind since the authorities began investigating a spate of sightings last month that set off fear and speculation.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration alert, the ban on drone flights in airspace over 22 New Jersey communities will run from Dec. 18, 2024 to Jan. 17, 2025. Listed among those 22 communities are the three largest cities in the state: Camden, Elizabeth and Jersey City.
In its statement, the FAA announced this temporary flight restriction on drones over New Jersey was being requested by “federal security partners.” The FAA did not specify who those “partners” are.
Meanwhile, Dana Gallagher, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said, “We continue to assess there is no public safety threat relating to the reported drone sightings. 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.”
Should anyone decide to test this ban on drone flights, the FAA has the right to intercept the aircraft and/or the pilot may be “detained and interviewed by federal, state, or local law enforcement or other government personnel.”
This news comes on the heels of numerous unexplained drone sightings and local officials in the Staten Island area in New York and New Jersey asking the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the FBI to conduct investigations into the sightings.
Those concerns were followed by a New Jersey Congressman stating that he believes the drones were launched by an Iranian “mothership,” and a State Senator is calling for a state of emergency.
It also follows a joint statement issued by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FAA, and Department of Defense (DoD), which claimed they had “not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.”