Who owns the airspace above private property?

[Rayb27]

Who owns the airspace above private property?

Oregon man faces felony charge for shooting drone out of the sky

I recently posted the above article on a social media site of a man shooting a drone out of the sky and received a response from a gentleman of "....they got no right to spy on me!...i see one watchin ME...it will come down!..bahaha". I'd like to respond as correctly and intelligently as possible.....

• What are the most current, up to date, or interpreted laws and regulations on flying over private property and ownership of airspace?
• Who owns the air?
• Does ownership stop at a certain height?
• What are your interpretations?

This got me to thinking about what the current laws and/or interpretations are about flying over private property and privacy. I find articles that are sometimes year old and would like to understand the most current information.

Thank you,
Rayb27

 

[N017RW]

There's some debate over this.
Don't expect a solid answer.

There's also a Supreme Court case as well you can read:

United States v. Causby - Wikipedia

 

[Rayb27]

Thank you N017RW......you're right, no clear answer there ...
So, does this mean that the FAA controls all airspace, or down to a certain altitude? (Sounds like this could be a power struggle between agencies?)
Has anything changed since 1946?

 

[N017RW]

The general thought is yes. From the grass up!
There is no competing agency though you read all the time about local govts. trying to declare certain limits which are being challenged and then thrown out.

But property owners have the use of what they can reasonably use.
This becomes more specified when building near airports in extreme cases so as not to interfere with aviation operations

 

[YogiFlyer]

I know many states, including Florida, have enacted PRIVACY laws in regards to sUAVs. This is more about privacy, rather than who owns the airspace, and has not really been litigated in light of heavy use of drones, nor has the FAA really spoken much about it. But whatever the privacy issue is here, you can't just shoot one down.

 

[Nmbr1stunna80]

I’m not sure where I read it, but seems like I seen somewhere that the first 100ft of airspace from the ground will be considered your property. Not sure if that’s true or not though but to be on the safe side I’m going to be higher than 100ft if I pass over someone’s property. Has anyone else heard anything like that?