The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed parts of New Jersey’s airspace to drones until January 17.
The areas impacted by the ban include Hamilton, Bridgewater, Bayonne, Cedar Grove, North Brunswick, Metuchen, Camden, Gloucester City, South Brunswick, Edison, Branchburg, Sewaren, Westampton, Jersey City, Harrison, Elizabeth, Winslow, Burlington, Clifton, Evesham, Hancocks Bridge, and Kearny.
“At the request of federal security partners, the FAA published 22 Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) prohibiting drone flights over critical New Jersey infrastructure,” the FAA said in a statement, as reported by ABC News.
An FAA Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said the government may use “deadly force” against drones if they present an “imminent security threat.” Those who fail to abide by the notice may be “intercepted, detained, and interviewed by the law enforcement/security personnel.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the drones do not present a public safety threat.
“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,” a DHS spokesperson said.
Earlier this week, several government agencies released a joint statement on the reported drone sightings. The FAA, DHS, FBI, and DOD said the FBI “received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated, and the federal government is supporting state and local officials in investigating these reports.”
The statement added that upon examination of the data and comments from citizens, the agencies found the sightings to “include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have 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.”
