this is probably a dumb question but im genuinely confused. i live right near where three states meet and theres some really nice open land that kind of straddles the border area. if im standing in one state and the drone drifts over into another state does that actually matter legally or does it all just fall under FAA federal jurisdiction anyway

i tried reading through the FAA website and some of the plain language stuff but it doesnt really address this directly that i could find. like im part 107 certified so i know the federal rules pretty well at this point but the state level stuff is just murky to me. one of the states near me has some specific rules about flying over private property i think, the other two i have no idea

for the airspace itself its all FAA, doesnt matter what state youre in or flying over. the federal government controls the airspace period. but where it gets complicated is on the ground side of things ? some states have passed laws about things like surveillance, flying over private property without consent, that kind of stuff. so your drone crossing into another state mid flight probably doesnt trigger anything airspace related but if you captured footage or flew low over someones property in a state with strict privacy laws thats where it could theoretically matter. realistically for most recreational flying in open rural areas you're probably fine, but yeah the patchwork of state laws is genuinely a mess

ive flown near state lines a bunch and never once thought about this honestly, kind of making me want to look into it now. the private property thing is the one that always makes me nervous regardless of state lines, some states are way more aggressive about that than others and theres been a few court cases about it that didnt really resolve things clearly from what i remember reading