Pilot Reports ‘Drone’ Sighting at New York’s JFK Airport
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File photo. (Stocktrek Images/Getty Images)(NEW YORK) — The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into a report by an Alitalia pilot who said he saw a “small, unmanned or remote-controlled aircraft” on final approach to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The Alitalia plane was on final approach at about 1:15 p.m. Monday, when the pilot saw the unmanned aircraft approximately four to five miles southeast of the airport, the FAA said in a statement.
“We saw a drone, a drone aircraft,” the pilot can be heard telling the control tower on radio calls captured by the website LiveATC.net. Later in the recording another pilot reports a similar sighting.
The FAA is investigating the pilot’s claim and the FBI is taking a preliminary look into this incident. The Joint Terror Task Force is also investigating, a source familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
The unmanned aircraft was flying at an altitude of approximately 1,500 feet, but the pilot did not take evasive action and the Alitalia flight landed safely, according to the FAA.
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