Source: https://www.buchalter.com/publication/appellate-court-affirms-faa-control-recreational-drones/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 22:12:40+00:00

Document:
(e) When flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower … with prior notice of the operation.
In addition, new regulation 14 C.F.R. § 107 sets forth additional restrictions on the operation of model UAS, applicable only to aircraft that do not meet the five critical “safe harbor” criteria. These additional restrictions include: airspace restrictions, remote pilot certification, visual observer requirements, and operational limits. See 14 C.F.R. §§ 107.33, 107.37, 107.41, and 107.61.
Based on the face of the statute and proposed rules, the court struck down each of petitioner’s challenges like rubber ducks at a carnival. It first found that petitioner’s challenge to 14 C.F.R. § 101.41, as inconsistent with FMRA § 336(a), failed, because § 101.41 does not, as claimed, attempt to regulate model aircraft, but, rather, simply implements the “safe harbor” criteria set forth in FMRA § 336 that protect the “safe” model UAS from further regulation.
The court similarly rejects petitioner’s second claim that the restrictions in Part 107 further impermissibly restrict model aircraft operations, because Part 107 does nothing more than clarify the distinction between those UAS that meet the § 336 safety criteria, and those that do not.
Finally, petitioner argues that FAA lacks statutory authority under Part 107 even to regulate model aircraft that do not comply with the five safety criteria in Part 101 and FMRA § 336, based on FAA’s previous regulatory interpretation of the scope of UAS regulation. While the court admits that its previous decisions have acknowledged FAA’s then-applicable interpretation, the court also points out that the FAA regulations at issue arise, not from prior statutes, but from a completely new statute, FMRA, not in existence at that the time of the prior interpretations, making FAA’s previous statutory and regulatory construction of the scope of model UAS regulation obsolete.
In short, FAA’s rules governing the operation of model UAS in the national air transportation system have withstood judicial scrutiny, and are thus applicable to anyone out there tempted to regard operation of a model UAS as merely an unregulated recreational activity.

References: § 107
 § 101
 § 336
 § 101
 § 336
 § 336
 § 336