Critical New Jersey Infrastructure Protected by 22 Flight Restrictions

Due to the continuous increase in mysterious drone sightings, the Federal Aviation Administration has published 22 Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) across New Jersey. Violations are subject to a wide variety of Government punishment, including ‘deadly force’ if necessary.

The swarm of TFRs began on November 25 with Flight Data Center (FDC) 4/8833 over Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. The Army installation is protected through December 26. The most recent additions to the list are FDC 4/8986 over Bedminster near SBJ VOR/DME and FDC 4/8842 over Evesham near GXU VORTAC. Bedminster is home to President-elect Donald Trump’s golf club.

Many of these restrictions are set to expire on January 17, 2025, but are subject to extensions. The Bedminster TFR is a tack-on to a previous one that expired on December 20, now lengthened to January 31, 2025.

Though there are exceptions to things like Department of Homeland Security operations, violations to the TFRs would generally result in harsh retaliation. This could include deadly force if the action is considered “an imminent security threat.”  Other punishments could include civil penalties, suspension or revocation of airmen certificates, or criminal charges.

The drone flight restrictions follow more than 5,000 tips to the FBI over the last several weeks. Some of these led to investigations, but many were dismissed due to repeat sightings or proximity to commercial airports.

While New Jersey has been the focus of the strange drone sightings, New York has also been smacked with over two dozen drone bans. These are purely preventative measures, and the government seems to find no real security threats for the time being.

“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” explained a joint statement by the FAA, DHS, FBI, and DOD. “We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.”

FMI: tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html