A DRONE BRIEFLY disrupted air traffic at Newark airport yesterday, one of New York’s three major hubs for air traffic.

There were no further drones sighted, and arrivals were allowed to resume after a short suspension, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman told AFP.

The FAA ordered a ground stop for other flights heading to Newark, however, until the “backlog” of arrivals landing at the airport were cleared.

“Around 5.00 pm (10pm Irish time), we received two reports from incoming flights into Newark that a drone was sighted at about 3,500 feet  above Teterboro,” another nearby airport in New Jersey, the spokesman added.

Drones have caused a growing number of flight disruptions in recent weeks. In December, London’s Gatwick airport was paralysed for 36 hours after a drone sighting. 

Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow in London, was shut down for an hour on 8 January  because of a drone incident.

US law bars drone pilots, unless they have special permits, from flying these aircraft above 400 feet and within 8km of an airport.

Authorities who oversee the airports in New York said they said support the probe into the Newark drone incident.

- © AFP 2019