UAVs Over Airports – The New Nightmare
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By ARIE EGOZI
This is the new nightmare of security organizations that are in charge of security in big airports: Experts say that the proliferation of small UAVs can result in using them for terror attacks on aircraft taking off and landing in busy airports.
Last week three drones were spotted flying too close to airplanes landing at New York City’s John F Kennedy Airport. Although it’s currently illegal to fly a drone within five miles of an airport or higher than 400 feet, one of the pilots landing at JFK on Friday said he saw a drone fly as high as 1,400 feet off the ground.
The drone spotting have prompted worries from federal aviation officials, that the unmanned aircrafts would be used to pose a threat to commercial planes.
According to the Mail Online, in response to the sightings, the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin, warning that drones could be used by terrorists: ‘The rising trend in UAV incidents within the National Airspace System will continue, as UAV gain wider appeal with recreational users and commercial applications.’
‘While many of these encounters are not malicious in nature, they underscore potential security vulnerabilities (…) that could be used by adversaries to leverage UAS as part of an attack,’ the statement reads.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer called for tougher defenses against drones. “The FAA has to act and toughen up the rules before a tragedy occurs because if a drone were sucked into a jet engine of a plane filled with passengers untold tragedy could result and we do not, do not, do not want that to happen,” Schumer said.
