Drones in Louisiana: Who Owns The Airspace Above Your House?

In recent weeks you've probably read reports about unidentified drones that were sighted in the skies above New York, New Jersey, and some other northern states. So far, we haven't had that issue (much) in Louisiana.

There is probably a two-word reason why drone pilots don't fly over Avoyelles, Acadia, St Martin, or Lafayette Parishes without permission. The two words? Sportsman's Paradise. Yeah, we're pretty good at turning things that fly into things that die and that would include high-tech electronic flying machines.

Having a drone flying over you is rather unnerving, or at least it can be depending on the situation. I was swimming in my backyard pool one Saturday when a drone suddenly appeared overhead I guess they were shooting a video. I really didn't pay too much attention to it but if my wife or daughter had been out by the pool my thoughts and actions would probably have been different.

Fast-forward to now and everyone is talking about drones and just where they can and can't fly. As you might imagine unmanned aircraft are closely legislated and I will tell you there a hundreds of licensed drone pilots in Louisiana who follow the rules and respect your privacy.

But many of us on the ground don't know what those rules are, and having a buzzing flying machine with a video camera peeking into our lives from above requires more clarification. The first thing you should know is that drone pilots in Louisiana must be licensed. Whether you pilot a drone for work or fun, you have to pass a test and become well acquainted with the rules.

There are a couple of statutes that those of us on the ground need to know about our rights. First, SB 141 passed in 2016 stipulates that "surveillance by an unmanned aircraft constitutes criminal trespass, under certain circumstances".

Another statute that would apply to us on the ground is HB1029 from 2014. This measure "creates the crime of unlawful use of an unmanned aircraft system, defined as the intentional use of a drone to conduct surveillance of a targeted facility without the owner’s prior written consent. This crime is punishable by a fine of up to $500 and imprisonment for six months. A second offense can be punished by a fine of up to $1,000 and one-year imprisonment".

Should you encounter a drone flying in the "airspace" above your home, your first thought might be to bring it down by "any means necessary." I guess you could throw a rock at it, or maybe if you had a fishing net, you could throw that in the drone's general direction, but you probably want to leave the weapons in the gun case. Firing on a drone, especially in an urbanized setting will cause a lot more trouble for you than it will for the drone owner.

Your best recourse is to contact your local law enforcement agency. And you might want to ask around your neighborhood to see if someone owns a drone. Then you can just ask your neighbor to stop flying over your house. A good neighbor would understand.

If you don't have a good neighbor and you know who is flying the drone you can capture video of the aircraft over your home. You can then use these videos to file a complaint of harassment or stalking against the drone pilot, especially if there are multiple incidents. That usually puts an end to the flights.

As we mentioned earlier, most drone pilots are on the up and up. The video information they share from on high is quite helpful in many different aspects of life, but it only takes one ne'er do well to spoil it for everybody. Just know that you have rights but you don't have the right to violate weapons laws in the process.

Hmm all of a sudden those people who believe "birds aren't real" don't seem so out of touch, do they?