The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened an investigation after a JetBlue flight reportedly collided with a drone while approaching New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday.
According to the FAA, the pilot of the Airbus A32src, which was flying from Las Vegas, stated the incident at an altitude of about 3,000 feet during the aircraft’s final approach, as per Reuters.
The collision was took place around 7:src5 am EDT, the US aviation regulator said.
“We collided with a drone back there in the turn. It hit us right above the cockpit,” the pilot informed an air traffic controller, according to ATC.com, reported AP.
“The flight landed without incident, customers deplaned normally, and the plane was removed from service for a post-flight inspection, which found no damage or evidence of a collision,” the airline mentioned.
In a statement, it mentioned that safety is JetBlue’s “first priority”, and it will coordinate with the required probe.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates John F. Kennedy International Airport, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The latest incident follows reports that a United Airlines flight also encountered a drone while descending into Newark Liberty International Airport, another airport serving the New York City area, on Friday.
In an email issued in late May, the Port Authority said it was gearing up for higher passenger traffic across its facilities as the New York-New Jersey region hosts several matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including the final on July src9.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in a post on X on Monday that it, along with its federal partners, had seized more than 500 drones operating in restricted airspace across all srcsrc US host cities since the start of the football tournament earlier this month.
The FAA has advised that drones should not be flown near airports, warning that pilots may struggle to detect and avoid them while operating aircraft.
The agency said it gets over src00 reports of drone sightings near airports each month and cautioned that people operating drones without authorisation could face fines or even imprisonment.
JetBlue to scale back Newark, LaGuardia ops: Report JetBlue Airways will shut its flight attendant base at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, along with its technology operations bases at Newark and New York’s LaGuardia Airport, later this fall, CNBC reported this month.
The closures are part of the airline’s broader cost-cutting strategy and its plan to strengthen operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, one of JetBlue’s most profitable hubs where it is the largest carrier, the report said.
According to JetBlue’s annual report, the airline accounted for a src3% share of airline seats across five airports in the New York metropolitan area, including Newark, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airport, at the end of 2025.
JetBlue told CNBC that the operational changes would not result in job losses, adding that affected employees could “bid or transfer to other bases”.
Earlier this year, the airline announced plans to slow recruitment, reduce capacity and increase fares to offset the impact of rising jet fuel prices, which have put pressure on its ongoing turnaround strategy.
Despite the restructuring, JetBlue said it would continue expanding its presence in South Florida by taking advantage of additional gate availability in the region.
About the Author Garvit Bhirani
Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers.
With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for src0srcreporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations.
Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’.
He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune.
He holds certificates in COVID-src9-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP.
He can be reached on LinkedIn or on @garvitbhirani on X
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