Newark airport shut down in US due to drone sightings

[AMann]

Greyhound is looking better and better.

View attachment 60162

Hey! I met Ms. Greyhound on on the Greyhound traveling south on Pacific Coast Highway in Humboldt county. We sat in the back row together and shared my french fries and beer. We had a wonderful conversation that lasted for hours. Sadly, I regret not ever calling her after we parted ways.

Back to airport drone sightings - if it’s true, what idiots did that?! Hope FAA makes an example of them for all those fun fliers that don’t care about the rules and live to post their dumb stunts on social media for likes.

 

[terradriller]

I've got a lot of miles in jets and can tell you that when you see another jet flying by it is like a flash. A tiny drone at 470 Mph is like seeing a fly while driving a motorcycle.

Exactly my point

 

[Gringorio]

I'll first distrust anyone here on the forum who was not there and is neither an actual pilot. Fact is, many drones can reach that altitude. I think those of you who disagree with reports like this are paranoid and are as much of the problem as are false reports.

 

[terradriller]

I'll first distrust anyone here on the forum who was not there and is neither an actual pilot. Fact is, many drones can reach that altitude. I think those of you who disagree with reports like this are paranoid and are as much of the problem as are false reports.

Not paronoid, I just find it hard to believe that with those lighting conditions a pilot could determine that it was a drone.

 

[Gringorio]

Not paronoid, I just find it hard to believe that with those lighting conditions a pilot could determine that it was a drone.

I see your point, but still stand by the report of trained and experienced professionals who were on scene. Of course, considering new info or evidence that comes our way. It's just too easy to be an armchair quarterback or drone operator.

 

[JDawg]

I'll first distrust anyone here on the forum who was not there and is neither an actual pilot. Fact is, many drones can reach that altitude. I think those of you who disagree with reports like this are paranoid and are as much of the problem as are false reports.

Believe everything you hear if you want but I believe there have been far more false reports than true ones. "It's a drone, it's a drone! Oops, never mind, plastic bag."

"Although the data contain several reports of pilots claiming drone strikes on their aircraft, to date the FAA has not verified any collision between a civil aircraft and a civil drone. Every investigation has found the reported collisions were either birds, impact with other items such as wires and posts, or structural failure not related to colliding with an unmanned aircraft. "
FAA Releases Updated Drone Sighting Reports

 

[thefrozenhawaiian]

Teterboro surface elavation is 9 feet above MSL. Pilot reported seeing 2 sUAS at 3,500 ft. It’s hard to imagine that at that time of day ( around 5pm and sunset is about the same time) that the pilot could depict the 2 with all of the background lights of the cities.
If this is in fact true then we just got another nail in the hobbies coffin because of 2 bozo’s being stupid.

agreed, this doesn't pass the sniff test, a pilot says he saw something that might have been a drone at 3500 ft? the pool of people who will go to the trouble of doing the software unlock work to be able to fly a drone up that high is small to begin with but we're supposed to believe that 2 of those people were flying at the same time around the same airport and the pilot was able to pick them both out while on his approach with the glare of the sunset plus background city lights. yeah, totally believable. I'm not saying it didn't happen but I am saying that the odds are very, very slim.

and yes I know you can build drones from the ground up that don't have software limitations on altitude but again, that pool of people is extremely small compared to the pool of people running around with off the shelf ready to fly drones that do have software restricted ceilings, and again the chances of 2 of those home builder types flying at the same time around the same airport is incredibly slim.

 

[FoxhallGH]

If it was a drone, then just wait for the postings on YouTube of Teterboro Airport from 3,500 ft ...

 

[ascension]

I've got a lot of miles in jets and can tell you that when you see another jet flying by it is like a flash. A tiny drone at 470 Mph is like seeing a fly while driving a motorcycle.

The "speed limit" in class B is 200 kts, and there would almost certainly be an ATC imposed speed while vectoring to land at EWR.
Guessing what is or is not visible from cockpit windows is a silly speculation.
It is motion which draws your eyes to smaller objects, and you see a lot of things.

 

[Steve Murray]

Warning
View attachment 60155

You missed out the paper or plastic bag!

 

[Steve Murray]

OK, I admit I am a skeptic of the skeptics, but whether it's an unlocked DJI drone or other drone, why would it "struggle" to get to 3500' AGL when they easily fly to 5+ miles out and back or up to the 500m imposed limit? I'm pretty sure the Mavic, Phantom 4 Pro, or Matrice for example would easily reach 3500' above takeoff with sufficient battery to return to home if there was no imposed limit.

My point being, DJI drone or otherwise, 3500' does not seem unreasonable. Though I am curious about the battery power needed to reach that altitude vs. the battery power needed to reach that distance using a Mavic 2 Pro or Phantom 4 series.

Fair enough, there was a strange person claiming on here a day or two back, that he was flying a Mavic at 2,000 metres. That's 6400 feet!

 

[LBC970]

400 vs 3500 is a big difference. I wouldn't think many consumer drones could go that high. DJI has a firmware limit of 500m (about 1500ft) limit from takeoff..

It's possible, but not very probable.

It's very possible, I used to fly over 10k all the time.

 

[warloc66]

Considering that the air traffic control system is in a utter mess due to Trump's shutdown (don't @ me, he said he'd own it) this is going to happen a lot

 

[swings16]

This one could be hand made...i doubt that a hobbyist would be able to fly that high and be dumb enough to do so (although when you think about it,there are some screwballs out there)...possibly someone intending mayhem ? Bottom line ,situations like this do not help us...negative press results in possible restrictions...most hobbyists are aware of the height restrictions and rules re flights near airports and obey...sad that people like this screw it up for the rest of us

 

[tca]

Seems a little strange BUT if it is true these guys need to be caught and fined.....dumb things like this mess it up for the rest of us who follow the rules.

 

[JohnChap]

I read last week that of the sightings seen in the UK last year, one was of "a military helicopter flying over London at 1600 ft we crewmen spotted a drone 650 ft to the left". It's amazing how accurately some people can judge distance!!

 

[ascension]

Considering that the air traffic control system is in a utter mess due to Trump's shutdown (don't @ me, he said he'd own it) this is going to happen a lot

The ATC system is functioning just fine.

 

[Jackcutrone]

Why do so many people react one way or another when the facts aren’t really all known. Yes. If someone wanted to they could take a drone that high, it’s not all that hard to do and no problem at all with a home built drone also not hard to do. And jets at 3500 feet are either climbing or landing both much slower than 470. And yes it was about sunset which would make it harder to see. Who knows. The reports from that I read came from two different pilots. But the first report was that it might have been a drone with s second saying it definitely looks “like” a drone. Bet this one never gets settled.

 

[Bigbird48]

I've got a lot of miles in jets and have yet to be in a jet doing 470mph at 3500 feet.

I'm sure at 3500 feet a jet is still going well over 200 mph and at that speed it really would be difficult to see a drone and really know what it was.

 

[Duke846]

Of course, because no drones fly over 400'

That’s not possible! My son isn’t allowed to fly my drone without adult supervision! (South park).