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> You do know you don't own the airspace over your house, right? The drone operator is operating within the law and you do not have a right to talk to them. A

> You do know you don't own the airspace over your house, right? The drone operator is operating within the law and you do not have a right to talk to them. A landowner in the United States owns the air space above their land up to the height that the FAA has classified as Navigable Airspace in that area, generally either 500ft or 1000ft. Flying over someone’s property below that height is trespassing, and after a good faith effort to identify the trespasser and inform them to stop trespassing, the landowner is entitled to destroy the drone (for example with buckshot) or report the trespassing to the police for investigation.

cronix 5y ago
> A landowner in the United States owns the air space above their land up to the height that the FAA has classified as Navigable Airspace in that area, generally either 500ft or 1000ft. > the landowner is entitled to destroy the drone (for example with buckshot) or report the trespassing to the police for investigation. Citation? > But today the FAA in response to my questioning confirmed that shooting down a drone is a federal crime and cited 18 USC 32. That statute makes it a felony to damage or destroy an aircraft.[1] > the statute also prohibits interfering with anyone "engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft" and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Since drones are considered aircraft, threatening a drone or a drone operator, according to Ms. Alkalay, would also be a federal crime subject to five years in prison under this same statute.[1] [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2016/04/13/faa-confirms-shooting-drone-federal-crime-so-when-will-us-prosecute/?sh=2a9cc6ac2a25 https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2016/04/13/faa-confi...
- dodobirdlord 5y ago
  From the cited (18 U.S.C. 32): > Amendments to 18 U.S.C. § 32 enacted in 1984 expand United States jurisdiction over aircraft sabotage to include destruction of any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce. The special aircraft jurisdiction in question requires the aircraft to be “in flight”, where the definition of “in flight” oddly enough depends on the aircraft having “doors”.[1] A plain reading of the statute indicates that it does not apply to unmanned aircraft unless they are engaged in interstate commerce. But I am not a lawyer. > engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft Perpetrating a crime like criminal trespass or harassment is by definition not an authorized operation of any aircraft. An FAA advisory on the topic [2] claims broad authority to supersede local regulation, but is careful to refer only to “navigable airspace”, and notes that > Laws traditionally related to state and local police power – including land use, zoning, privacy, trespass, and law enforcement operations – generally are not subject to federal regulation. I should have been more careful in my wording in the above comment. What you can and cannot do to a trespassing unmanned drone operating below the navigable airspace ceiling on your property is going to depend on the applicable state and local laws. For example, most municipalities have laws against use of firearms within city limits. [1] https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1405-special-aircraft-jurisdiction-us https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual... [2] https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/media/UAS_Fact_Sheet_Final.pdf https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/media/UAS_F...

cronix 5y ago

> A landowner in the United States owns the air space above their land up to the height that the FAA has classified as Navigable Airspace in that area, generally either 500ft or 1000ft. > the landowner is entitled to destroy the drone (for example with buckshot) or report the trespassing to the police for investigation. Citation? > But today the FAA in response to my questioning confirmed that shooting down a drone is a federal crime and cited 18 USC 32. That statute makes it a felony to damage or destroy an aircraft.[1] > the statute also prohibits interfering with anyone "engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft" and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Since drones are considered aircraft, threatening a drone or a drone operator, according to Ms. Alkalay, would also be a federal crime subject to five years in prison under this same statute.[1] [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2016/04/13/faa-confirms-shooting-drone-federal-crime-so-when-will-us-prosecute/?sh=2a9cc6ac2a25 https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2016/04/13/faa-confi...

dodobirdlord 5y ago
From the cited (18 U.S.C. 32): > Amendments to 18 U.S.C. § 32 enacted in 1984 expand United States jurisdiction over aircraft sabotage to include destruction of any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce. The special aircraft jurisdiction in question requires the aircraft to be “in flight”, where the definition of “in flight” oddly enough depends on the aircraft having “doors”.[1] A plain reading of the statute indicates that it does not apply to unmanned aircraft unless they are engaged in interstate commerce. But I am not a lawyer. > engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft Perpetrating a crime like criminal trespass or harassment is by definition not an authorized operation of any aircraft. An FAA advisory on the topic [2] claims broad authority to supersede local regulation, but is careful to refer only to “navigable airspace”, and notes that > Laws traditionally related to state and local police power – including land use, zoning, privacy, trespass, and law enforcement operations – generally are not subject to federal regulation. I should have been more careful in my wording in the above comment. What you can and cannot do to a trespassing unmanned drone operating below the navigable airspace ceiling on your property is going to depend on the applicable state and local laws. For example, most municipalities have laws against use of firearms within city limits. [1] https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1405-special-aircraft-jurisdiction-us https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual... [2] https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/media/UAS_Fact_Sheet_Final.pdf https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/media/UAS_F...