The FAA issued new no fly zone restrictions on Wednesday and Thursday for drones covering twenty-two locales in New Jersey through January 17, threatening “deadly force” against aircraft violating the zones if they pose an “imminent security threat.” The new drone restrictions are in addition to those already in place for Bedminster, home of one of President-elect Trump’s golf courses, and the Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton. Each zone has a radius of one nautical mile and a ceiling of four hundred feet from the ground.
The FAA released a statement Thursday about the drone restrictions, “At the request of federal security partners, the FAA published 22 Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) prohibiting drone flights over critical New Jersey infrastructure.”
The threat to use deadly force against drones comes a week after Trump called on the Biden administration to shoot down the drones and the response by the Biden administration that the drones over New Jersey posed “no threat” and they were limited in what they could do.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas shrugs off the mysterious drone sightings along the East Coast: “We haven’t seen anything unusual.” pic.twitter.com/89btRTXBlV
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 14, 2024
Mayorkas: “With respect to the ability to incapacitate those drones, we are limited in our authorities.” pic.twitter.com/JBTsiaLJK8
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 15, 2024
On Monday, a joint statement downplaying the drone scare was released by the FBI, the FAA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense that said in part:
Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date 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.
Excerpt from the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) for Kearny, New Jersey (similar NOTAMs were posted for the other locations):
FDC 4/8541 ZNY PART 1 OF 3 NJ..AIRSPACE KEARNY, NJ..TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS. DECEMBER 18 , 2024-JANUARY 17 2025 LOCAL. PURSUANT TO 49 USC 40103(B)(3), THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) CLASSIFIES THE AIRSPACE DEFINED IN THIS NOTAM AS ‘NTL DEFENSE AIRSPACE’.
PILOTS WHO DO NOT ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING PROC MAY BE INTERCEPTED, DETAINED AND INTERVIEWED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT/SECURITY PERSONNEL.
ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL ACTIONS MAY ALSO BE TAKEN AGAINST A PILOT WHO DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE RQMNTS OR ANY SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OR PROC ANNOUNCED IN THIS NOTAM: A) THE FAA MAY TAKE ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION, INCLUDING IMPOSING CIVIL PENALTIES AND THE SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF AIRMEN CERTIFICATES; OR B) THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MAY PURSUE CRIMINAL CHARGES, INCLUDING CHARGES UNDER 49 USC SECTION 46307;
OR C) THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MAY USE DEADLY FORCE AGAINST THE AIRBORNE ACFT, IF IT IS DETERMINED THAT THE ACFT POSES AN IMMINENT SECURITY THREAT. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR 99.7, SPECIAL SECURITY INSTRUCTIONS (SSI), ALL UNMANNED ACFT SYSTEM (UAS) FLT OPS ARE PROHIBITED:
The locales in New Jersey covered by the NOTAMs:
Evesham, Hamilton, Bridgewater, Cedar Grove, Metuchen, North Brunswick Township, Camden, Gloucester City, Westhampton, Edison, South Brunswick, Branchburg, Sewaren. Jersey City, Harrison, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Winslow, Burlington, Clifton, Hancocks Bridge and Kearny.
Flying Magazine reported on comments by a DHS spokesperson about the new restrictions (excerpt):
…A DHS spokesperson told FLYING the TFRs were requested by critical infrastructure partners to discourage drones from flying over their assets.
Neither agency linked the restrictions to the reports of mysterious aircraft.
“We continue to assess there is no public safety threat relating to the reported drone sightings,” DHS said in a statement. “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.”
