Pope Will Be in NJ Skies; Don’t Even Think About Sending a Drone Up

Up in the sky: It's a bird. .. it's a plane ... it's the Pope!

Actually, one of the only things in the skies over New Jersey this weekend besides commercial flights will be "Shepherd One," the American Airlines Boeing 777 chartered by the Vatican as the Federal Aviation Administration has placed restrictions in the airspace between New York and Philadelphia.

The pontiff is scheduled to fly into John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. to begin the New York segment of his trip. He will make the quick flight from JFK across New Jersey to the airport in Northeast Philadelphia on Saturday morning between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and then leave for Rome on Sunday evening from Philadelphia.

The FAA warns that aerobatic maneuvers, glider operations, parachute operations, ultralights, lighter than air/balloon/moored balloon, agricultural/crop dusting/spraying, animal population control, banner towing, utility/pipeline patrols, aircraft/helicopters operating from a ship or private/corporate yacht, model rockets, or maintenance flights, flight training, and practice approaches are all prohibited from flying on Saturday and Sunday unless a waiver has been granted.

The biggest thing banned by the FAA is drones.

"I'm asking the public to please leave your drone at home during the Papal Visit," FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a statement from the agency. "Flying a drone anywhere near the areas Pope Francis visits is against the law and violators could face stiff fines and criminal penalties."