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Suspected Drone Near Washington Airport Suspends Flights for 20 Minutes
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Flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were suspended for roughly 20 minutes on September 16 night after two pilots reported spotting a suspected drone near an active runway, CNN reported on September 17, citing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
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The first sighting was reported by the pilot of an American Airlines regional jet arriving from Tulsa, who told air traffic control that an unidentified object resembling a drone had flown past the aircraft near the runway.
“We saw, like, a drone or something that went flying by, probably halfway down the runway,” the pilot said, according to air traffic control audio cited by CNN.
A second pilot, who was preparing to depart on a charter flight to New Jersey, subsequently reported seeing a light that also appeared to be a drone.
In response to the reports, air traffic control alerted other aircraft to “unauthorized UAS (unmanned aerial system) activity reported in the vicinity of DCA, type and color unknown,” and temporarily suspended flight operations at the airport, CNN reported.
“It definitely wasn’t nothing,” the controller told the pilot who first reported the suspected drone.
Airport operations personnel searched the area following the sightings but did not locate the object. The FAA said both local and federal authorities were informed of the incident.
The FBI is responsible for investigating illegal drone activity. Federal charges related to such incidents can carry penalties of up to one year in prison and fines of as much as $100,000.
The incident comes amid heightened concerns over drone activity around airports and other critical infrastructure. Earlier this month, Russian forces deliberately struck airports in Kyiv and Boryspil overnight on September 5, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggesting the attacks could have been connected to preparations for a potential US delegation to travel to Ukraine by air.
Zelenskyy said the strikes marked the first deliberate Russian attacks on the two airports in a long time and came amid discussions about allowing US representatives to fly directly into Ukraine.
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