![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Drone-flight-test-1.jpg\")
article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
\u00a0 (Luke Sharrett\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
DALLAS – A 24-year-old Dallas man has been charged with repeatedly flying a drone into a restricted airspace around Dallas Love Field and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.<\/p>\n
Drone crosses active runway <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
\u00a0A federal grand jury indicted Pujan Prashantkumar Gajjar on Sept. 16 on four counts related to the unauthorized operation of an unmanned aircraft in protected airspace.<\/p>\n
The indictment alleges Gajjar flew a drone into the runway exclusion zone at Love Field around 11:30 p.m. on June 26, 2025. Prosecutors said the drone crossed an active runway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The following night, Gajjar allegedly flew the same drone into restricted airspace surrounding DFW Airport, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors also allege Gajjar knowingly and willfully acted as an airman without the required airman\u2019s certificate in connection with the flights.<\/p>\n
Federal agents arrested Gajjar on Sept. 22. He made his initial appearance that day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver.<\/p>\n
If convicted, Gajjar faces up to eight years in federal prison.<\/p>\n
Officials warn of airspace risks <\/p>\n
What they’re saying:<\/p>\n
FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said operating a drone in restricted airport airspace threatens pilots and crew members, as well as people on the ground.<\/p>\n
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a statement: “Unauthorized drone incursions into protected airport airspace jeopardizes aircraft and endangers pilots, passengers and the entire community.”<\/p>\n
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the North District of Texas.<\/p>\n
Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Texas<\/a>Air and Space<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article \u00a0 (Luke Sharrett\/Bloomberg via Getty Images) DALLAS – A 24-year-old Dallas man has been charged with repeatedly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18302,1046,102,104,103,223,2220,216,393],"class_list":["post-460751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-air-space","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-news","tag-science","tag-tx","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}