Question for Action Line:
Is it legal for drones to fly over your house? I was doing yoga out on my deck one Sunday, and a drone flew right over me – it felt very invasive.
Thanks, WAnting Some Privacy on the west side
Dear WASP,
I’m guessing you picked that name based on actual wasps, which are sort of like natural drones, rather than as a socioreligious identifier or a fan of the ’80s shock-metal band?
Anyway, the short answer to your question is that it’s generally legal, as long as they don’t hover. Federal FAA rules apply, and if the drone and operator are properly authorized, a drone can fly over your property if it is not invading your privacy by looking into your house or even your backyard. Passing over your property is allowed, but it’s not allowed to hover. Recreational drones have to fly below 400 feet, but high enough to not be in your “immediate reaches,” which doesn’t have an exact height but at least 90 to 100 feet is considered generally allowed as long as, again, it’s not hovering and/or taking images inside your house or of your backyard where you have an expectation of privacy.
State and local laws can apply, but only to the extent they don’t conflict with FAA rules, generally related only to where they can take off and land, although there are none that apply in Durango (some nearby towns like Telluride do have such laws).
If you think a drone is hovering over your property improperly, doing something about it is another issue. I’ve often wanted to have a water balloon cannon to shoot one down, but federal law prohibits doing that with any kind of weapon, so don’t do that. You can contact local police, but unless you can figure out who is doing it, as you can imagine there might not be much they can do.
As indicated above, a person can’t just fly any drone without taking some steps first. If it’s over 0.55 pounds, which most are, recreation drone operators must take the online The Recreational UAS Safety Test. And flying over state parks is prohibited in Colorado, as is flying in an active wildfire area, or within 5 miles of the airport (without FAA permission). Drone interference with firefighting operations has been an issue in the past around here, don’t do that, drone operators!
Email questions and suggestions to [email protected] or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Today’s Fun Fact: The category of “wasps” include yellowjackets, hornets and paper wasps. (All hornets are wasps, but not all wasps are hornets.) While the females of these species can sting (many species elsewhere don’t sting at all), they are not aggressive about it. They are just as important for pollination as bees are, and prey on insects that damage gardens. “Tarantula hawks” are wasps that paralyze the spiders, then drag them to their burrows where it lays a single egg on it, which then hatches and lives off the still-living tarantula until grown.