A patchwork of rules and laws has made the drone mystery tougher to solve

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

(CNN) — The recent public anxieties surrounding drones clouding the Northeast have exposed gaps in the regulations and a bureaucracy ill-equipped to handle a surge of activities in the skies no matter how innocent or nefarious.

For weeks, potential drone sightings have swarmed social media and sparked cries from lawmakers and the public for the government to get to the bottom of it, despite federal authorities insisting there’s no threat. Drone sightings have been reported in at least six states – New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio – while arrests have been made in connection with drone operations near restricted areas in Massachusetts and California.

But who regulates these remotely operated, unmanned aircraft?

Timothy Tenne, who was a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official from November 2014 to April 2017, stood up the drone integration office helping develop the country’s first drone regulations. He currently is the CEO of American Robotics, which builds unmanned aerial systems.

“None of the government agencies, whether it’s state, local, federal, even the DOD (Department of Defense) have all the resources they need,” Tenne said. “So, they have to prioritize what things are national security threats.”

For almost 10 years, the FAA has been working on integrating drones into the National Airspace System. However, the last few weeks have raised alarms to public observers on the matter and issues behind regulation. Although many of the drone sightings are actually manned aircraft or even stars, federal officials have said, local politicians have continued to press federal government officials for more answers.

As of October 2024, the FAA had registrations for 789,000 recreational drones and over 396,000 commercial drone registrations, according to federal data.

The early days of drone regulation

The regulations governing drones are relatively new. Over the years, as technology has advanced, the laws and enforcement of those laws have struggled to keep up.

Tenne said drone technology first began to gain traction during former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Tenne pointed to an example of a Kentucky man who shot down a drone out of the sky in 2015 as a defining moment. The FAA ruled it was illegal to shoot down an unmanned aircraft.

But the FAA rules only tell part of the story.

“When we talk about drones, it’s not just about the flying aspect into the National Airspace System. It’s things like keeping town rules. It’s trespassing. It’s acting unsafely, assault, battery,” Tenne explained.

Small, unmanned aircraft systems are regulated under 14 CFR Part 107. According to the FAA, it’s legal to fly a drone in most locations, however, there are rules. Drones must be flown under 400 feet and must avoid other aircraft. The FAA also places airspace restrictions in certain areas such as stadiums and sporting events, airports, security sensitive areas, restricted or special use airspace and in most of Washington DC.

Lisa Ellman is a global regulatory partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells, where she is the chair of the uncrewed aircraft systems practice. She is also co-founder and executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance, a non-profit that advocates for the commercial use of drones.

Ellman pointed to bipartisan legislation on the Hill aimed at navigating that issue and enhancing the authority granted to the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice with drones, authored by Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan.

“The focus in Washington right now is we recognize and sympathize with the American people here that there needs to be more information available to the American people more quickly,” Ellman said.

She said the legislation also creates a pilot program around the use of mitigation technologies, enabling states and localities to utilize, in very limited circumstances, mitigation technologies. That can be sending a drone to capture another drone or even hacking technology if needed.

“If it’s a drone that is operating in a certain way, it’s possible that they may not be able to use the technology that is necessary in order to be able to identify it,” Ellman said. “That’s where the legal gaps come in, and that’s where this needs to change and the law needs to change.”

‘Drone’ sightings cast light on regulation, transparency

Drone restriction awareness has also been highlighted over the last several weeks through varying incidents. Runways at New York’s Stewart International Airport were temporarily closed for about an hour last week after the FAA alerted the airport’s operator to a drone sighting there.

Lawmakers and experts have urged the government to be transparent with the alleged drone incidents.

“I can’t rule out the fact that we might find some sort of illegal or criminal activity, some nefarious activity, (but) all I can do is tell you that right now we see none of that,” White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that government authorities in a classified briefing said there was no evidence of anything nefarious. The government has reviewed about 5,000 incidents and still has 100 other reported incidents to look into.

“I think one thing that really stood out in this particular briefing is that there’s both a lack of technology as well as resources for both drone detection and takedown by different law enforcement and other agencies. And also, there’s a lack of legal authorities and rules and regulations to enable them to do what they have to do to protect the homeland,” he told CNN.

Drones are also restricted in some airspace by the FAA at the request of law enforcement for safety and security reasons.

Senior FAA officials told reporters that a local issue involving drones would be handled by local law enforcement. If there’s a federal issue, it might roll over to the FBI or a criminal investigation.

All of the experts CNN spoke to don’t believe the public should be worried at this point, but do believe that there should be more information. Tenne stressed there are procedures, however, for releasing that information to the public, which may be why not much has been said.

“In most cases, they’re protecting the operator, because there are legal procedures to go through if someone is operating outside the regulation, because that could be a criminal act,” Tenne said. “It could be just a mistake, which is still a criminal act, and they have to work with the Department of Justice to work through that. So, releasing all that information prior to investigating would be not following the rules of procedure.”

Jonathan Gilliam has worked previously as a special agent for the FBI and been a federal air marshal. He said the government’s confusing statements have contributed to the public outcry.

“There has to be a better path of information from the government to the people, and the government has to take what the people say seriously,” Gilliam said.

He said this will be especially important with the next administration – to pinpoint a lack in communication between law enforcement and the public.

“There’s people that are very, very scared about this,” Gilliam said. “Whether they’ve created that anxiety themselves, or it really exists, I think that this is a huge thing.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.