Drone incursion in Newark-Liberty Airspace

I have nothing against drones, I really don't. Drones are being used for a lot of good: storm surveys by the National Weather Service, agricultural aviation, scientific research and recreational uses such as photography outside of restricted airspace. Having said that, this is not the place to go if you want to learn about such uses. My concern here is and always be the safety of aviation operations both over wildfires and in and around our airports. I implore all who are use drones, aka unmanned aircraft systems that as applicable you register your drones with the FAA, stay out of airspace in and around airports, obey any applicable TFRs (temporary flight restrictions) and to the point of my blog, stay away from wildfires and structure fires.

Flight operations at Newark-Liberty International Airport were halted for a couple of hours on Tuesday, January 22nd when one or two drones were reported by the pilots of two planes near Teterboro Airport at 3,500 feet. Teterboro Airport is located under Newark's airspace about 20 miles north of the Newark-Liberty International Airport. See this report from CBS2 in New York (with video) and this NJ.com article.

A mid-air collision between a drone and an aircraft has the potential for fatal consequences. So far we have been lucky, but I fear the time will come when I drone will bring down an aircraft causing injuries or death to the occupants. In 2017 a drone collided with an Army Black Hawk Helicopter over Staten Island that later landed safely in New Jersey, see this article from NJ.com for more information. See the video report in this Business Insider report about what a drone collision with an aircraft wing could do.

January 26, 2019: I have read some reports on the internet speculating that the the alleged drone sightings by pilots on January 22nd may not have been drones. I posted a follow-up on January 28th, saying that the FAA has so far been unable to verify that a drone was sighted on January 22nd.