HOME INVADED BY ERR CRAFT
Drone smashes thru 27th-floor window
A drone crashed through a Manhattan woman’s 27th-floor window and landed just feet from her as she sat in her living room enjoying a quiet evening at home, police sources said Sunday.
The 66-year-old resident was working on her computer at 20 Waterside Plaza, on the East River off 25th Street in Kips Bay, when the hobby craft smashed through her window at around 5:45 p.m. Saturday, according to the sources.
The device — which has a 10inch propeller and a camera — landed on the floor just 4 feet away from her, cops said.
“Poor lady. She’s lucky she wasn’t killed,” said Stephanie Bowden, 23, who was visiting her boyfriend’s apartment 11 floors below at the time.
Police on Sunday were investigating who owns the drone, a remote-controlled 2.2-pound GoPro Karma Quadcopter model, and where it came from.
The Federal Aviation Administration also plans to look into it.
If the owner registered the device with the FAA — which is legally required for all recreational drones weighing between .55 and 55 pounds — it can be traced back to him or her.
Police also may be able to use a serial number located on the base and battery of the drone to track down the owner, sources said.
Flying drones recreationally is banned in Manhattan and nearly everywhere else in the city, except in five outer-borough parks, according to the Parks Department.
Drones are forbidden less than five miles from JFK and La Guardia airport in any direction under federal aviation law.
The FAA offers other “guidelines,” too, noting that the gadgets should not be flown near buildings and bridges or more than 400 feet in the air.
The resident involved in Saturday’s bizarre accident declined to comment to The Post, but her neighbors said it takes home intrusion to new heights.
Nick Ward, 24, a project engineer who lives on the 30th floor, said, “That’s pretty crazy. I’d say the statistics for this happening are really, really low.”
Bowden added, “The last thing you expect is for something to come crashing through the window. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been.’’
Drones have caused other problems in the Big Apple.
Last year, a 28-year-old video maker was arrested for accidentally flying a drone into the Empire State Building.
In July, a 52-year-old man was busted for flying his drone only 20 feet below a passenger jet as it was landing at JFK Airport.
And in May 2015, a graffiti “artist” used a drone to deface with spray-paint a six-story Calvin Klein billboard in Soho.