NYCAviation did report this first on twitter.
Pilot reports spotting 'drone' over BrooklynBy Aaron Cooper,CNN
updated 10:25 PM EST, Mon March 4, 2013
The pilot of an Alitalia jet reported he saw an unmannedaircraft
The pilot said he spotted the other aircraft while was landinghis jet at New York's JFK Airport
The FAA is investigating
(CNN) -- Was there a drone flying over Brooklyn Mondayafternoon?
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating areport from a pilot of an Alitalia passenger jet who says he saw an unmannedaircraft while landing at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
"We saw a drone, a drone aircraft," the pilot canbe heard telling controllers on radio calls captured by the websiteLiveATC.net.
"The FAA is investigating a report... he saw a small,unmanned or remote-controlled aircraft while on final approach to Runway 31Right," according a statement sent to CNN by FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown."The sighting was approximately four to five miles west of the airport atan altitude of approximately 1,500 feet," she said.
That description puts the aircraft somewhere over Brooklynand on the other side of the airport from where the plane was coming in for alanding.
The Alitalia aircraft did not have to take any evasiveaction and landed safely at JFK.
Air traffic controllers warned other planes approaching therunway of the drone report, but at least two other pilots radioed they did notsee it.
A spokesman for the New York Police Department was not awareof the incident and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, whichoperates the airport, referred CNN to the FAA.
Unmanned aerial systems, sometimes called drones, and otherremote-controlled planes could pose a risk to larger passenger aircraft if theycollided or were sucked into an engine.
For recreational hobbyists, flying remote-controlled planesis only allowed by the FAA up to 400 feet in the air, and within sight of theoperator. If they are going to fly within three miles of an airport, they haveto let air traffic controllers know.
Flying unmanned aerial vehicles is illegal for most businesspurposes; however, governments and public entities such as police departmentscan apply for permission to operate them.
The FAA has been working to setup new rules and to safelyintegrate the use of unmanned aircraft into the national air space, and lastyear opened an "unmanned aircraft systems integration" office.
CNN's Rob Frehse contributed to this report.
