30 Feet Off the Right Wing

The drone-initiated flight halt called yesterday afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport was all but inevitable.  

Meaning, I just assumed after the Gatwick drone incident late last year in the U.K. it was only a matter of time before The Beatles came to America.

This was the sit rep according to a report from The New York Times: The drone was spotted about 3,500 feet over Teterboro Airport in New Jersey (a smaller airport 17 miles north that handles private planes).

Hobby drones are, by law in the U.S., not supposed to fly over 400 feet and “operating restrictions include no flights near airports, no flights near or over people, no flights in controlled airspace” without a permit, according to FAA 14 CFR 107.

In this particular case, one airline pilot reported the drone was about “30 feet off the right wing.”  Too close for drone comfort.

Flight operations were impacted at Newark for about 90 minutes before flights resumed.  

Better than Gatwick’s three days, but alarming nonetheless.