Three planes flying into Kennedy Airport had frightening near-misses with drone aircraft, authorities said Thursday.
The latest midair scare unfolded Wednesday when JetBlue Flight 842 from Georgia encountered a drone at 400 feet while flying over Nassau County.
“About 2 miles out on the final, maybe 4 to 300 feet, looks like one of those unmanned drones is flying right on the final,” the pilot radioed air traffic control.
An aviation expert warned that these unmanned aircrafts could lead to catastrophe.
“If that thing goes into an engine, that engine’s out,” said Jeffrey Price, owner of Leading Edge Strategies, an aviation management training and consulting company in Denver.
Price raised the specter of terrorists using drones.
“It wouldn’t take anything to put a couple of ounces of C-4 on that UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and you’ve just flown past all of the security that’s in place,” Price told the Daily News.
Two other incidents took place on Sunday night.
The crew of a Virgin Atlantic flight from London spotted a drone at about 3,000 feet while on final approach to JFK, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday. A minute later, the pilot of Delta Flight 838, arriving from San Diego, reported an object hovering close to its left wing about 10 miles from JFK, the FAA said. The startled pilot wasn’t sure what the object was.
“We just had something fly over us,” the Delta pilot told an air traffic controller. “I don’t know if it was a drone or a balloon; it just came real quick.”
Nassau cops searched the ground, but they were unable to locate the operator.
On Thursday, a private helicopter pilot saw a pair of drones buzzing near the Queensboro Bridge, law enforcement sources said. The pilot reported the incident to the FAA.
Aviation experts said the FAA has been dragging its feet on coming up with rules or safety standards for drones.
“Left unchecked, it’s an accident waiting to happen,” said pilot Patrick Smith, author of “Cockpit Confidential.”
Some JFK passengers shivered over the new threat to air safety. “Of course, I’m scared,” said Juanita Simple, 34, who was preparing to fly out of JFK on Thursday. “They can crash into planes. It can be a threat.”
Michelle Powell, 40, who was also waiting for a flight, added, “The government should step in and regulate them.
