Judge Dismisses Federal Claim Against Man Who Shot Down Drone

Defendant was sued after shooting plaintiff’s drone out of the sky when it was over defendant’s property.  Plaintiff sued in federal court claiming the drone was an aircraft, and, thus, under the regulation of the FAA.  Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell, based in Louisville, disagreed:

Russell wrote in a March 21 opinion that the suit was essentially a garden-variety state tort claim that should not be in federal court. Although the Federal Aviation Administration has an interest in enforcing regulations governing federal airspace, “its interest in applying those regulations in the context of a state tort law claim for trespass to chattels is limited or nonexistent,” Russell said. At most, the FAA regulations are ancillary issues in the case, he concluded.

ABA Journal has the story.