Drone nearly strikes United Airlines jet landing at Newark Airport

A drone nearly struck a United Airlines Boeing 737 landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday, coming within 100 feet of the aircraft. The pilot of United Flight 1513 reported the circular, three-foot-wide drone during final approach, and a second pilot also spotted a drone nearby. The FAA warns that flying drones near airports is illegal and dangerous, with over 100 such reports each month.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready...A high-flying drone nearly struck https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/27/us/drone-nearly-hits-united-plane-newark-hnk a United Airlines jet landing at Newark Liberty International Airport Friday, authorities said. The circular-shaped drone, which was about three feet wide, came within 100 feet of the descending Boeing 737 as it made its final approach to the New Jersey airport at around 5:30 p.m., according to radio transmissions https://x.com/Rulaelhalabi/status/2070768062874140718?s=20 between United Flight 1513 and the Newark airport tower. “We almost hit a drone right there. About 100 feet below us,” the pilot said in his report to the tower. “Right where you are now?” a tower operator asked. “Exactly,” the pilot said. The tower operator asked the pilot if he saw the drone’s color or how many propellers it had. “It was like a circular shape and that was about it,” the pilot said. “It looked like it was about three feet wide.” A second pilot flying a GoJet Airlines plane into Newark at roughly the same time also reported seeing a drone at about 2,000 feet above the airport, according to radio transmissions. A spokesman for United Airlines said that Flight 1513, which was flying in from Key West and had 106 passengers and five crew members aboard, landed safely https://abc7ny.com/post/united-pilot-reports-almost-hitting-drone-landing-newark-airport/19392069/ . Travelers exited the plane at an airport gate as normal, the airline said. It’s illegal to fly a drone in controlled airspaces like airports, but the Federal Aviation Administration says “ reports of unmanned aircraft sightings from pilots, citizens and law enforcement remain high https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/public records/uas sightings report .” “The FAA receives more than 100 such reports near airports each month,” the FAA said “The agency wants to send out a clear message that operating drones around airplanes, helicopters and airports is dangerous and illegal. Unauthorized operators may be subject to stiff fines and criminal charges, including possible jail time.”