FAA Bans Drone Flights Over New Jersey, New York Following

JAKARTA - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Thursday it was temporarily banning drone flights above 22 utility locations in New Jersey, United States and plans to impose similar restrictions on locations in New York.

The FAA said the decision to ban drones for 30 days at the New Jersey site was made as a form of caution at the request of federal security agencies after the FAA banned flights above two locations in New Jersey in November.

The growing concern about drones in New Jersey and its surrounding states has sparked a dramatic spike in the number of people in the area who directed lasers to aircraft flying overhead, which is illegal and could be dangerous, the FAA said the day before.

The FAA said reports rose 269 percent to 59 in the first half of December, compared to eight in the same period last year. The FAA said it had received dozens of reports of new lasers from pilots in the airspaces of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The FBI in New Jersey warned people on Wednesday not to fire on an unmanned plane suspected of or directing a laser at the plane, warning "there could be dangerous consequences and may be lethal if a drone is mistakenly targeted" as an unmanned aircraft.

A number of US authorities have repeatedly said the surge in sightings of unmanned aircraft did not pose a national security risk and that most of the sightings appeared to be airplanes, stars or aircraft in a hobby.

Locations affected by temporary bans across New Jersey include PSE&G, power outage stations, substations, generating stations, utility command centers, and other facilities in places such as Elizabeth, Edison, South Brunswick, Commerce, Metuchen and Bridgewater.

The FAA plans to temporarily ban drone flights above the site of key infrastructure in New York, the state's governor said late Thursday.

Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement he had spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, telling him the FAA plans to impose temporary flight restrictions on several key infrastructure locations in New York.

"This action is purely a precautionary measure; there is no threat to these locations," Hochul said.

The FAA, which did not immediately comment, is expected to announce locations in New York on Friday.

Yesterday, the FAA said it extended the ban on the use of unmanned aircraft aboard President-elect Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, until January 31.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the restrictions "did not affect manned flights, including aircraft and helicopters. While our DHS and federal partners continue to see no evidence of a threat, TFR's goal is to prevent unmanned aircraft flights around this area, as requested by critical infrastructure partners."

It is known, there are about 1 million registered unmanned aircraft flying about 42 million times a year.