Drone Flew Over Las Vegas Airport Runway While Jets Kept Landing

A drone flew over Runway 26 at Las Vegas airport on Monday evening. A police helicopter tracked it and officers got eyes on the operator. While this was going on, the tower cleared a Learjet to land on Runway 19, still handling arrivals while police and controllers tried to locate a difficult-to-see object around the runways. The FAA now receives more than 100 reports of drones near airports each month. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department helicopter just tracked a drone flying over the runways at Las Vegas International Airport. Via @theATCapp pic.twitter.com/JTpzh2bVzC — Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) August 11, 2026 The police helicopter call sign is Metro 4, N741SM: Metro 4: “We do have confirmation the drone is flying over the runway right now.” Tower: “Do you know what runways—the 19s or the 26s?” Metro 4: “26 is what we last heard.” Metro 4: “The drone is at the southwest corner right now. We’re trying to get over to find it for you.” Metro 4: “We’re tracking the drone back northbound. I guess they have eyes on the operator, so it should be clear of the runways now.” Metro 4: “Our present location is where the drone landed.” In the comments I see several bad takes, such as a small consumer drone being harmless to an airliner ‘because aircraft are tested against bird strikes.’ Small drones can cause much greater structural damage than birds carrying the same impact force because their batteries, motors and cameras are dense, rigid objects. And a helicopter faces greater risk. Flying a drone above a runway at a major airport is illegal, with up to a year in prison and civil penalties up to $75,000 per violation. People need to stop being stupid with drones. In February, drone operations around El Paso caused the FAA to close the airport’s airspace until the government agencies sorted themselves out. Here’s a United Boeing 737 hitting a “red, shiny” drone at 3,000 feet while landing in San Diego. Topics on this page