United’s Scary Brush With Drone — Then Another

A rogue drone came within about 100 feet of a packed United jet landing at Newark, exposing yet another dangerous gap in how federal authorities police America’s skies.

Story Snapshot

United Flight 1513 from Key West narrowly missed a drone while landing at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The pilot radioed “We almost hit a drone,” describing a circular device roughly three feet wide just 100 feet below the jet.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, but has not identified who flew the illegal drone near the busy airport.
A second pilot reported another drone in the same approach path, highlighting a wider airspace security problem.

United jet’s close call over Newark

On Friday evening, United Airlines Flight 1513 was on final approach into Newark Liberty International Airport when the crew saw something that had no business in that airspace: a circular drone passing about 100 feet directly beneath the descending Boeing 737. The flight carried 106 passengers and five crew members from Key West, Florida. The pilot immediately radioed air traffic control, saying, “We almost hit a drone,” in audio later confirmed by national media.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew observed the drone near Newark around 5:20 p.m. local time and confirmed that the agency has opened a formal investigation into the incident. United Airlines later stated that the flight landed safely and that customers deplaned normally at the gate, with no injuries and no damage to the aircraft reported. From inside the cabin, most passengers likely never realized how close the jet had come to a dangerous midair event.

Illegal drones and an enforcement gap

The Federal Aviation Administration has long warned that flying drones near airports or aircraft is both hazardous and illegal under federal law. Federal rules ban uncrewed devices from operating in the protected airspace around major commercial hubs such as Newark, which sits under tightly controlled Class B airspace. Yet in this case, as in many others, the drone operator has not been identified, and officials admit they cannot always track or stop these small devices once they slip into restricted sky.

This Newark scare was not an isolated event in the region’s airspace. Around the same time, a separate pilot flying a United Express feeder flight reported another drone at about 2,000 feet in the same approach corridor into Newark. Within days, officials were also investigating a reported drone strike involving a JetBlue flight preparing to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, showing a pattern of risky activity near some of the nation’s busiest airports. These back-to-back incidents raise serious questions about how effectively Washington enforces the laws already on the books.

Growing safety concerns for everyday travelers

Federal data shared with reporters indicate the Federal Aviation Administration now receives roughly 100 drone sighting reports near airports every month. Each sighting forces pilots and controllers to manage a new threat in already crowded airspace. In the Newark case, the United crew’s quick response and calm handling of the approach kept the passengers safe and the landing routine. But aviation experts warn that if these devices keep slipping into restricted areas, common sense and good luck may not be enough forever.

A United Airlines 737 came within 100 feet of a drone at Newark on 27 June. The FAA receives 100+ drone sighting reports near airports every month. DeTect's DRONEWATCHER® delivers real-time multi-layer detection and alerting.https://t.co/vtXdivaFjY #DroneDetection #AirportSafety pic.twitter.com/Scay7BtCVy

— DeTect (@DeTect__Inc) July 23, 2026

For conservative Americans who value law and order, secure borders, and limited but effective government, this story fits a troubling pattern. Washington has passed laws against dangerous drone flights, yet federal agencies still struggle to find and hold the people who break them accountable. President Trump’s administration now faces the task of pushing regulators and Congress to close this enforcement gap, protect travelers, and defend the basic expectation that families can fly without worrying about hobby drones endangering their lives.