FAA Announces (More) Drone Tests In New Jersey

Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times,

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is telling people there is no cause for concern over the large numbers of drones flying across New Jersey skies.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is under Duffy’s purview, more tests are planned later this year in at least three other states—New Mexico, North Dakota, and Mississippi.

Duffy said in an April 15 video posted on social media that the drone flights, like those that caused public alarm in late 2024, are authorized.

Specifically, the FAA is conducting “drone-detection testing” in Cape May, New Jersey, through April 25.  The FAA said it began the tests on April 14.

Duffy said more than 100 “commercial, off-the-shelf drones,” large and small, are being used. The FAA alerted local authorities and invited their participation.

“The FAA is doing this to ensure we can properly detect drones in our airspace and make sure they don’t interfere with aircraft navigation systems,” Duffy said. 

“This is about protecting our national security and American safety.”

Because drone flights may interfere with aircraft navigation, “operating drones around airplanes, helicopters, and airports is dangerous and illegal,” the FAA said. Yet the agency still receives more than 100 drone-sighting reports near airports each month.

Officials said the FAA test drones are being flown over the water near the Cape May Ferry Terminal during daytime hours on weekdays only.

“The public should not fly recreational drones near this area during the test period,” it said.

Similar research has been done at airports during the past few years, but the FAA expanded these investigations to off-airport locations, including some in Alaska.

Duffy pledged he would “continue to provide you, the American people, with this kind of candid, behind-the-scenes updates.”

“You deserve a government that’s always going to be transparent about what we say and what we do,” he said.

Before Duffy became transportation secretary in January, he was a New Jersey resident. Thus, he knew from personal experience that concerns about the drones festered as citizens clamored for further explanation.

“The public was deeply worried about the lack of clear information—communities, kids, families, seeing drones flying over their homes,” he said.

To prevent such undue concerns, Duffy said, the FAA has adopted a “radical transparency” approach to ensure that people are better informed.

In December 2024, White House national security adviser John Kirby said there was “no evidence that the reported drone sightings pose a national-security threat or a public-safety threat.” Authorities were inundated with at least 5,000 reports of mystery drone sightings across several states.

Questions lingered after President Donald Trump took office in January. He instructed his staff to release more information.

On Jan. 28, the ninth day of Trump’s second presidency, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the FAA had authorized “large numbers” of drones to fly over New Jersey for research and various other reasons.”