FAA halts drone flights for parts of New Jersey, New York

Responding to a spike in unexplained drone sightings, the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday and Friday announced several temporary flight restrictions over both states. The restrictions, called TFRs, prohibit the flight of specified aircraft over designated areas.

Twenty-two TFRs ban drone flights over critical infrastructure in New Jersey, according to an FAA statement. The agency said the temporary restrictions were requested by federal security partners, but did not name the federal agencies behind the request. The FAA issued a second statement on Friday, saying it published 30 similar TFRs over critical New York infrastructure.

The FAA statements did not indicate how long the TFRs would be in place, but the agency’s website lists many of the restrictions as ending on Jan. 17-18.

What are political leaders saying about the new restrictions? New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement on Thursday, saying Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas coordinated the restrictions. She said the restrictions were purely precautionary, and said there was no existing threat to any of the critical sites.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s demands for answers on the drone sightings.