United Pilot’s Chilling Call Stuns

United airplane taking off from a runway.

A drone came within about 100 feet of a packed United jet landing at Newark, and now Washington’s rules and airport security are under the microscope again.

Story Snapshot

United Flight 1513’s pilot reported a drone just 100 feet below the jet on final approach to Newark.^[1]
Another pilot near Newark also reported a drone in the area, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opened an investigation.^[1]
United and the FAA both confirmed the sighting, but no drone operator has been found and there is no hard evidence yet.^[1]^[6]
FAA data shows more than 100 drone reports near airports every month, though only a tiny share lead to evasive action or proven danger.^[13]^[14]

Pilot’s chilling report: “We almost hit a drone”

The pilot of United Flight 1513 was lined up to land at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday when he saw something he should never see near a runway: a drone.^[1] As the Boeing 737 came in from Key West with 106 passengers and five crew members, he radioed air traffic control, saying, “We almost hit a drone right there, about 100 feet below us.”^[1] He described the object as circular and about three feet wide, meaning it was large enough to matter if it hit a jet at low altitude.^[1]

United Airlines quickly backed up its crew. In a public statement, the company said Flight 1513 “reported a potential drone sighting prior to arriving in Newark,” and confirmed the plane landed safely and passengers deplaned normally at the gate.^[1] Local outlets reported that the incident happened around 5:20 p.m. on Friday, during one of the busiest parts of the day for a major New York–area hub.^[6] No injuries were reported, and there was no sign of damage to the aircraft, which highlights both the luck in this case and the risk when aircraft and unauthorized drones share the same airspace.^[1]

Multiple reports, but no drone operator found

This United crew was not alone. Around the same time, another pilot flying a regional GoJet Airlines aircraft into Newark also reported a drone in the area, this one at about 2,000 feet on approach.^[1] That second report supports the idea that some kind of unmanned device was flying near the airport, not just a single moment of confusion. Yet despite two pilots speaking up on the radio, officials have not publicly identified any operator, serial number, or registration linked to the drone.^[1]

The Federal Aviation Administration announced that it is investigating the Newark incident and confirmed that Flight 1513 landed safely after the crew reported the drone sighting.^[1] The agency also reminded the public that flying drones near airplanes, helicopters, and airports is “dangerous and illegal,” warning that unauthorized operators can face heavy fines and even jail time.^[14] For now, though, the investigation has produced no video proof, no radar track, and no recovered drone parts. The case rests almost totally on what pilots saw with their eyes and relayed over the radio.^[1]

Drone danger in context: lots of reports, limited hard proof

The Newark scare fits into a bigger pattern that should concern travelers but also push officials to stick with facts, not hype. The Federal Aviation Administration says it gets more than 100 reports each month of drones spotted near airports.^[14] A detailed review of 582 drone incident reports in the national airspace found that 519 were simple sightings or “close encounters,” where an object was nearby but did not hit anything.^[13] Of 188 close encounters with distance data, 167 happened within 500 feet; only 24 were within 50 feet, and just 11 led to evasive maneuvers.^[13]

Those numbers matter for two reasons. First, they prove that drones are showing up in places they do not belong, including within a few hundred feet of passenger jets near busy airports.^[13] Second, they show that most incidents stop short of true near-collisions backed by hard evidence. Legal analysts reviewing Federal Aviation Administration data between 2015 and 2017 found that the reported drone sightings were not steadily rising, and that only a small share posed genuine safety risk to manned aircraft.^[15] Social media videos and cable news often call each sighting a “near disaster,” but the underlying data tells a more nuanced story.

Media alarm, regulatory power, and what comes next

Major outlets and social feeds rushed to share the Newark audio, framing it as a near-collision just seconds from impact. National and local reports repeated the pilot’s quote and United’s statement, presenting the incident as confirmed fact.^[3]^[6] Yet none of those reports pointed to radar tracks of the drone, airport security footage, or recovered hardware. The Federal Aviation Administration’s warning that such drone flights are “dangerous and illegal” was treated as the final word, even though there is no public record yet of who launched this drone or whether any charges will follow.^[14]

“We Almost Hit A Drone!” United Airlines 737 Comes Within 100 Feet On Newark Approach https://t.co/cnLdw8hSTZ via @LiveandLetsFly pic.twitter.com/VYWPKC9ZpC

— BoardingArea (@BoardingArea) June 27, 2026

For conservatives who value limited government but strong rule of law, this raises a key question: are federal agencies using rare but dramatic cases to push broad crackdowns that may sweep up responsible hobbyists and small businesses, without fixing airport security gaps? Many thousands of lawful drone flights happen near airports every year with no incident at all, yet enforcement seems to focus on headline-grabbing sightings while leaving basic detection and tracking technology lagging behind.^[15] Until investigators produce solid proof and name real offenders, the Newark case is both a warning about reckless drone use and a reminder to demand clear evidence before granting more unchecked power to far-off regulators.