FAA investigating drone that flew too high over North Ridgeville on June 2

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a civilian airliner reported a drone flying in restricted airspace near the Lorain County-Cuyahoga County line early Monday afternoon. According to the FAA, the crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 2506 reported a drone flying 4,000 feet high about 6 miles southwest of Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport just after 12:30 p.m. Monday. The flight had just taken off for Phoenix when the drone was seen, according to publicly available flight data. Online rumors that the drone belonged to the Lorain County Sheriff's Office are not true, spokesman Maj. A.J. Torres said Wednesday. He said the confusion may have come from there being two calls for service that went out simultaneously. One was for a missing juvenile while at the same time, North Ridgeville police took a report in the area of the Ohio Turnpike "that there was a drone that was too high," Torres said. North Ridgeville police took the drone call but couldn't find the drone, he said. Deputies located the missing juvenile, Torres said. "Our drones were never up in the air," Torres said. The Chronicle-Telegram requested a copy of any reports on the drone sighting from North Ridgeville police. The FAA said it receives more than 100 reports of drone sightings near airports every month, "and we want to send out a clear message that operating drones around airplanes, helicopters and airports is dangerous and illegal." The unauthorized operation of drones around other aircraft or airports is punishable by criminal charges that could include possible jail time and fines, the FAA said. "We encourage the public to report unauthorized drone operations to local law enforcement and to help discourage this dangerous, illegal activity," the FAA said. The FAA has been testing new drone detection and counterdrone technology at airports to reduce risks to aviation safety for the past several years. A final report is being reviewed, the agency said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com