Department Of Homeland Security Issues Warning After 2 Drone Sightings Near JFK
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning Saturday saying terrorists may uses drones in an attack.
The warning comes after two drone sightings by airplanes near John F. Kennedy International Airport Friday, CBS2's Dick Brennan reports. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating
The FAA said the first incident happened just before 2:30 p.m. when Jet Blue Flight 18234, inbound from Haiti, reported seeing the drone, WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported.
Then, just before 5 p.m., Delta Flight 407 from Orlando had a close encounter as heard in a live ATC.net recording: "Yeah, about a mile back there was a drone flying just under the southwest side of the airport here. It's about a hundred feet below us."
The air traffic controller then warns the plane behind that Delta flight of the drone in the vicinity of Floyd Bennett Field, Smith reported.
The FAA said in both instances, the pilots did not take any evasive actions and an investigation is underway.
The NYPD told CBS2 in an exclusive interview that a re-configured drone could be very dangerous.
"To have a simple thousand dollar drone flu in with a payload of explosives set it off, detonate it with a cell phone, you can kill a good amount of people," said NYPD Deputy Chief of Counter Terrorism Salvatore Dipace.
Dipace told CBS2 Brennan that terror groups like ISIS are bent on turning a simple drone into a deadly weapon.
However, the NYPD says there is no specific drone threat against New York. But they still run daily chopper patrols with an eye on drones.
Anyone violating the ban could face federal charges.