JetBlue plane reports possible drone incident during approach to land at JFK

An unusual incident was reported in New York airspace, where a JetBlue plane preparing to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport is suspected to have come into contact with a drone.

Following the incident, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it has opened an investigation to clarify what happened.

According to FAA data, the aircraft involved was Flight 948, which had departed from Las Vegas bound for New York. The pilot reported that the aircraft was struck by a drone at about 3,000 feet, or approximately 1,000 meters, while the plane was in the final stage of its approach to land at JFK, at around 07:15 local time on Monday.

JetBlue, for its part, confirmed that the crew had reported a “possible drone contact.” However, the company clarified that the landing was completed without any problems, the passengers disembarked normally, and the plane was temporarily taken out of service for a technical inspection.

Both the FAA and the airline said that after checks by technicians, no damage was found on the aircraft, nor were any traces identified that would indicate a collision.

American media also published the exchanges between the pilot and the control tower. “I couldn’t talk during the approach, but we hit a drone,” the pilot is heard saying. The air traffic controller immediately asked whether the collision had really occurred, while the pilot replied: “Yes, it hit us just above the cockpit.”

The FAA stresses that more than one hundred reports are recorded every month of drones flying near airports in the United States. The authority has imposed a strict ban on their use near airports, airplanes, helicopters, and sensitive facilities, while violators may face heavy fines and criminal penalties, including prison.

The issue of drones has also been included in security measures for the 2026 World Cup. According to Andrew Giuliani, the White House official in charge of organizing the tournament, by the middle of the competition authorities had detected 1,139 drones in restricted areas and neutralized more than 300 of them.