A United Airlines flight carrying 106 passengers and five crew members narrowly avoided a collision with a drone while landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday evening. The Boeing 737, arriving from Key West, Florida, touched down safely at about 5:30 p.m. local time and all aboard disembarked normally, the airline confirmed.

According to air traffic control recordings, the pilot reported the unmanned device as circular, roughly three feet wide, and flying approximately 100 feet below the aircraft. “We almost hit a drone,” the pilot can be heard saying. Around the same time, the crew of a United Express flight operated by GoJet Airlines also reported spotting a drone at an altitude of about 2,000 feet while approaching Newark.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened an investigation into the incident. The agency receives more than 100 reports of drone sightings near US airports each month, though actual collisions remain rare. Through March of this year, pilots reported 319 sightings, but only eight required evasive action, according to FAA data. Unauthorized drone operations near aircraft are illegal and can result in fines, criminal charges, and imprisonment.

The near-miss adds to a pattern of drone incursions in the New York metropolitan area. In March, pilots at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports reported multiple unmanned aircraft sightings. Similar disruptions in April 2019 near Teterboro Airport, roughly 17 miles from Newark, led to flight interruptions. The incident occurred about 15 miles from East Rutherford, New Jersey, where World Cup matches are being held under a strict “No Drone Zone” designation, though authorities have not linked the drone to the event. The FAA has not identified the operator, and the investigation continues.