The Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary flight restrictions prohibiting drone flights over parts of New Jersey following an influx of sightings in recent weeks.

The notice, which expires Jan. 17, 2025, said drone operations in support of national defense, homeland security, law enforcement, firefighting, search and rescue or disaster response missions are not included in the restrictions.

Commercial drone operations are allowed with a valid statement of work, but there must be an approved special governmental interest airspace waiver and all applicable FAA regulations must be followed.
The New York Stewart International Airport (SWF), a public and military airport in Orange County, had “multiple reported drone sightings near and over the airport,” a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

SWF shut down the airport runway for over an hour on Friday night in response, and had no safety impacts on aircraft.

Brett Velicovich, Fox News contributor and CEO of Expert Drones, told Fox News Digital via email, “now it’s affecting our economy, by not allowing flights to depart on time.”

He added, “The airports can’t do anything else but shut down traffic even if there is just a reported sighting. Out of precautions for safety [airports] have to, and that’s the issue is [drone operators] can’t be tracked easily and can quickly shut down traffic and cause mass disruptions.”
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