A passenger jet approaching New York’s LaGuardia airport almost collided with a drone Friday morning.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the crew of Shuttle America Flight 2708 reported climbing 200 feet to avoid collision with a drone at 2,700 feet around 11 a.m Friday.
The jet, which has between 70-78 passenger seats, was arriving from Washington, D.C., and landed safely without any reported injuries. No further information has been released.
“Drones are stronger than birds and people are flying them in restricted airspace more and more,” Phil Derner Jr., an aviation research and consulting expert, told Fox News. “It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when, one of these hits an aircraft.”
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told NY1 News after the reported incident that this should be a wake-up call for stricter limits on drone use.
“Every drone that’s sold in the United States, whether it’s made here or abroad, can have built into the drone itself a mechanism that doesn’t let it fly in certain places,” Schumer said.
(h/t USA Today)
