Chicago Executive Airport (CEA) officials have launched a campaign warning residents and people in neighbouring communities of the FAA’s new drone guidelines and the airport’s own suggestions. Staff members have passed out fliers warning residents that flying drones near airports is “highly discouraged and dangerous.”
The airport, which is co-owned by Wheeling and Prospect Heights, also has drone safety information and resources on its website.
CEA spokesman Rob Mark says “If you live in the area, please stay away from the airport -One of those going through a (airplane) window or getting caught in an engine is not good.”
Current guidelines from the FAA strongly discourage anyone from flying a drone within a 5-mile radius of any airport. This means that flying a drone anywhere in the Wheeling area is discouraged.
Mark adds that drones have been spotted near the airport recently.
“When I talked to the tower manager last week, he said he’s been seeing them for a couple months now,” Mark said. “And coming from all directions.”
When someone working in the control tower spots a drone, Mark says, they can’t do much but treat the unmanned aircraft like they would a flock of birds — announcing the location and advising pilots to keep an eye out.
Wheeling Village Attorney Jim Ferolo agreed with a concerned Trustee Ken Brady on Monday that the village could do more to regulate drones.
“From the municipal perspective we have the ability to regulate up to 400 feet,” Ferolo said. “We should look into our ability to restrict it related to flight patterns.”
Ferolo added that drones become a municipal problem when they’re flying over private property.
It became illegal to fly a drone within a 5-mile radius of both O’Hare and Midway airports after the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance in November. Chicago also created no-fly zones over private property, schools, churches, hospitals and police stations without consent.
Mark says he distributed drone information to municipal officials in Wheeling, Prospect Heights, Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Deerfield, Northbrook and Glenview on Tuesday.
Source: Daily Herald
Wheeling Village Attorney Jim Ferolo and Trustee Ken Brady need to do some homework.
“From the municipal perspective we have the ability to regulate up to 400 feet,” Ferolo said. “We should look into our ability to restrict it related to flight patterns.”
This statement is absolutely incorrect. The FAA regulates all airspace from the ground up.
49 USC § 40103 – Sovereignty and use of airspace
(a) Sovereignty and Public Right of Transit.—
(1) The United States Government has exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States.
Only the FAA may regulate flight.
Only the FAA may create a no-fly-zone
The FAA just recently released a fact sheet for the amateur legislators in cities and towns which tells those who think they can regulate drones in their jurisdiction that they will be preempted by federal law.
From the FAA Fact Sheet:
“Substantial air safety issues are raised when state or local governments attempt to regulate the operation or flight of aircraft. If one or two municipalities enacted ordinances regulating UAS in the navigable airspace and a significant number of municipalities followed suit, fractionalized control of the navigable airspace could result. In turn, this ‘patchwork quilt’ of differing restrictions could severely limit the flexibility of FAA in controlling the airspace and flight patterns, and ensuring safety and an efficient air traffic flow. A navigable airspace free from inconsistent state and local restrictions is essential to the maintenance of a safe and sound air transportation system.”
I suggest that Attorney Jim Ferolo is not only wrong, but badly misinformed.
http://tinyurl.com/FAA-Fact-Sheet-pdf