Originally Posted by franklin_m

Unfortunately, many lawful activities get swept up in the knee-jerk reaction by lawmakers and regulators responding to the demands of an emotional public. I foresee that sooner or later some non-AMA member is going to put a drone in the engine of an airliner, and when that happens, the system will react quickly -- and anything but surgically. They will be searching for clear bright regulatory lines that are easily enforced and easily articulated. That means strict altitude limits and geographic limits. 400' AGL keeps models, AMA or not, well below the vast majority of civilian traffic. Add to that a restriction of nothing within 5nm of an airport w/o permission, and you've expanded that safety bubble significantly. It's easy to enforce by cops on the ground, easy to articulate, and about as easy to follow for uninformed as you can get w/o an outright ban.