The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed a temporary ban on drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) being flown above a federal prison for security reasons.

The ban has been imposed in cooperation with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and at the request of FAA’s federal security partners.

The ban has been imposed under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) §99.7-“Special Security Instructions”, and will restrict drone flights up to 400ft within the lateral boundaries of the Administrative United States Penitentiary Thomson in Illinois, US.

The 14 CFR aims to address concerns over drones flying over national security-sensitive facilities by issuing temporary UAS specific flight restrictions.

“Operators who violate the flight restriction may be subject to enforcement action, including potential civil penalties and criminal charges.”

In a statement, FAA said: “Operators who violate the flight restriction may be subject to enforcement action, including potential civil penalties and criminal charges.

“The FAA is continuing to consider additional requests by eligible federal security agencies for UAS-specific flight restrictions using the Agency’s §99.7 authority as they are received.

“Additional changes to these restrictions will be announced by the FAA as appropriate.”

Earlier this month, FAA temporarily restricted drone operations over 29 federal facilities, including some Coast Guard bases.

The DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security were also involved in imposing the ban.