A drone over Brooklyn was spotted by a pilot. The drone was reported by an Alitalia pilot as he was flying in to JFK airport. He quickly called radio control to report what he saw. On March 5, CNN reported that an unnamed aircraft sighting is currently being looked in to.
"We saw a drone, a drone aircraft," the pilot can be heard telling controllers. According to the report, the unmanned or remote-control aircraft was spotted about five miles west of the airport in New York. The Alitalia flight was able to land safely despite the other aircraft being close by. Other pilots were notified of the sighting but no other pilots reported seeing anything unusual in the sky.
A drone over Brooklyn or any area where planes fly could cause a disaster. They could easily get sucked in to the engines of these bigger planes or they could collide with the aircraft in mid-air. While the FAA does allow people to fly remote controlled airplanes, they have several rules that must be followed to ensure the safety of those in the air.
"For recreational hobbyists, flying remote-controlled planes is only allowed by the FAA up to 400 feet in the air, and within sight of the operator. If they are going to fly within three miles of an airport, they have to let air traffic controllers know," CNN reports.
The alleged drone over Brooklyn was about 1,500 feet in the air. The FAA has launched an investigation.
© Effie Orfanides 2013
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