The Chicopee City Council recently called for a new law that would determine how close drones can fly to private property, after a woman in nearby Agawam called the police when she saw a drone outside her bedroom window. Chicopee would join other cities and towns across the country that have passed similar restrictions.
Smith College’s Paul Voss, an engineering professor, says such laws are facing serious pushback from the federal government. Voss, who teaches aerial vehicle design, says his work has been curtailed by Federal Aviation Administration rules and “there’s no such thing as private property under the new FAA’s understanding of air space.”
It’s all public air space, “right down to the grass,” Voss says.
The FAA Reauthorization Act is now making its way through the U.S. Senate. It says no state or city can enact or enforce a law that would preempt federal law on where drones can fly.