Definitions

US Legal | Ownership of Airspace Over Property

US Legal | Rights in Airspace and Relative Rights of Surface Proprietors

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Regulations for Altitude Minimums

§ 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.

FAA Guide to Low Flying Aircraft

Learning Center Library Contents - FAA - FAASTeam

Overflight Regulations | Office National Marine Sanctuaries

Flying By the Rules - A Guide to FAA Regulations

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FAA Low Flying Aircraft

Low Flying Aircraft Complaints

Help FAA Identily Unauthorised Low-Flying Aircraft

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FAA Interpretations

Anderson 2009 Legal Interpretation

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Scholarly Articles

William M. Allen, The Right of Flight over Private Property, 7 Wash. L. Rev. 274 (1932).

C. D. Hogue Jr., Aviation -- Liability of Airport for Low Flying -- Flights Through Airspace as Taking of an Easement, 25 N.C. L. Rev. 64
(1946).

Scott P. Keifer, Aircraft Overflights as a Fifth Amendment Taking: The Extension of Damages for the Loss of Potential Future Uses to Aviation Easements. Brown v. United States, 4 Mo. Envtl. L. & Pol'y Rev. 88 (1996)

Pierce Giboney, Don't Ground Me Bro!: Private Ownership of Airspace and How It Invalidates the FAA's Blanket Prohibition on Low Altitude Commercial Drone Operations, 67 Fla. L. Rev. 2149 (2015).

Aviator's Rights in Airspace - United States v. Causby, 8 Md. L. Rev. 300 (1944)

Scott P. Keifer, Aircraft Overflights as a Fifth Amendment Taking: The Extension of Damages for the Loss of Potential Future Uses to Aviation Easements. Brown v. United States, 4 Mo. Envtl. L. & Pol'y Rev. 88 (1996)

Colin Cahoon, Low Altitude Airspace: A Property Rights No-Man's Land, 56 J. Air L. & Com. 157 (1990)

Hillary B. Farber, Keep Out! The Efficacy Of Trespass, Nuisance And Privacy Torts As Applied To Drones, 33 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 359 (2017)

Stanley L. Lester, Nuisance -- As a "Taking" of Property, 17 U. Miami L. Rev. 537 (1963)

Mary Jo Soenksen, Note, Airports: Full of Sound and Fury and Conflicting Legal Views, 12 Transp. L.J. 325 (1982).

Chad J. Pomeroy, All Your Air Right Are Belong to Us, 13 Nw. J. Tech. & Intell. Prop. 277 (2015).

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Legal Opinions

Opinion and Order | NTSB Order No. EA-4020

Pilot-Counsel: LOW FLIGHT: A CASE STUDY

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Case Law

United States v. Gaidys

Smith v. New England Aircraft Co. Inc.

Batten v. United States

Vorhees v. Naper Aero Club, Inc.

Further Reading

Ask a CFI: What is the correct pattern altitude I should use when approaching an airport for landing?

Your Guide To Minimum VFR Altitudes

Aircraft Collisions with Powerlines

Closing the Gaps: Why Low-Altitude Airspace Awareness Is Critical for the Future of Aviation

Trent Palmer Final FAA Update

Legal Briefing: Minimum Safe Altitudes

ASRS Database Report Set | Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Reports

FAA Order 2001-2: In the Matter of High Exposure, Inc.

The NTSB Trent Palmer Decision—The FAA Has Reached a Record Low for Enforcement Actions

PALMER v. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (2024)

Pilot-Counsel: LOW FLIGHT: A CASE STUDY

When In Doubt ...FAR 91.119, which governs minimum safe altitudes, is a regulation we hear about a lot at the Legal Services Plan. 

River landing leads to proposed suspension: FAA again applies narrow definition of 'necessary'