Twice now I've had drones flying over my house with the operators nowhere to be found. I wouldn't mind so much if I could find the operator and ask them not to fly over my house but I can't. That's the fundamental problem with drone: the asymmetry.
I'd stop flying over your place, but I have friends who would laugh and tell you to pound sand - then they'd fly over your place a few more times for fun.
Remote ID won't solve this either, it doesn't apply to drones <250g. You're going to have to just deal with it.
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.
> 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-confi...
> 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...
[2] https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/media/UAS_F...
https://www.thedronelogic.com/drone-laws-by-state/california...
> Keep your drone within sight. If you use First Person View or similar technology, you must have a visual observer always keep your drone within unaided sight (for example, no binoculars).
https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=2...
> The drone operator is operating within the law
No. I checked and the law is that they must be within line-of-sight. These two drone were both flying all over a residential neighborhood and the operators aren't in line-of-sight.
> you do not have a right to talk to them.
That makes no sense. Of course I have a right to talk to anyone.
> I have friends who would laugh and tell you to pound sand - then they'd fly over your place a few more times for fun.
Then we would have a serious problem.
> You're going to have to just deal with it.
No one wants that.
https://www.engadget.com/faa-final-drone-rule-dates-18453896...
But I don't see how this would work for me in the situation I described. Would I call the police or the FAA or what?
> Remote ID helps the FAA, law enforcement, and other federal agencies find the control station when a drone appears to be flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly.
> Authorized individuals from public safety organizations may request identity of the drone's owner from the FAA.
Just like if there is other suspected illegal activity, you contact the branch of gov't that handles it and not involve yourself. If you see someone speeding, it's not legal to speed to catch them. You call the cops and let them deal with it.
Personally I don't see this working at all, or at least won't have much of an effect. Most drone pilots aren't sitting there for hours in the same place waiting to get caught, especially if they are knowingly doing something bad. They usually fly for 15-30 minutes and go somewhere else. By the time the cops/faa get to you, the drone, pilot and all their "remote id" data are long gone. In a lot of major US cities, cops aren't even responding to anything but the most serious of crimes due to budget cuts and personnel shortages. I don't see how they will even have the time to follow up given the list of priorities they have, maybe unless the report included a weapon mounted on the drone (which has happened). And people intent on breaking the law just won't register or get a drone with Remote ID anyway. They'd build their own (it's a fun hobby and how all this drone stuff got started to begin with - the first ones just used arduinos with appropriate sensors [see ardupilot project]) or use some of the millions already in existence built in the last 15 years that don't have the capability.
Both of these drones were flown multiple times (five or six times per month) over dense residential areas. I doubt these folks were serious scoff-laws, just inconsiderate. Like I said, I wouldn't mind so much if I could see and talk to the operators. I like drones and I have seven or eight myself.