Two troubling incidents in the skies over the United States are raising fresh questions about air safety and security, and the FBI is now investigating at least one of them. The cases involve close encounters between piloted aircraft and unmanned objects, the kind of near misses that aviation authorities treat as serious threats to passenger safety.
In one of the incidents, a pilot reported a drone flying at nearly 3,000 feet in the vicinity of an aircraft. According to the account, the crew radioed that they did not need any assistance and would go ahead and land, bringing the flight down without further trouble despite the unexpected presence of the device at altitude.
A second incident took place at JFK, where a helicopter pilot reported nearly colliding with a large remote controlled plane. The pilot described almost running into what was characterized as a big remote controlled airplane flying at around 500 feet, an altitude where it posed a clear hazard to low flying traffic around the airport.
The concerns were compounded by an earlier close call. Just days ago, on Friday, a United pilot said the crew came within about 100 feet of a drone, describing it as passing roughly 100 feet below the aircraft. The report added to a sense that encounters between drones and commercial flights are becoming a recurring danger.
In each case, the aircraft involved landed safely, and the Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating. Authorities said that after the JFK incident, inspectors found no damage on the plane, but the repeated nature of the encounters has kept the focus on how such objects are ending up in controlled airspace.
Officials reiterated a basic rule that frames the inquiries: drones cannot be flown near an airport, and the FAA will pursue the matter accordingly. With the FBI examining at least one of the incidents and the FAA reviewing the others, the cases underscore growing scrutiny of unauthorized flights around busy air corridors, as reported by ABC's Gio Benitez in New York.