Shooting Down Drones Did you know that it is a federal crime to shoot down a drone? In a recent Forbes Magazine article, Loretta Alkalay, an aviation attorney who teaches Drone Law at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, says that the same statute that makes it a crime to shoot down a drone also prohibits interfering with anyone "engaged in the authorized operation of such aircraft" and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Since drones are considered aircraft, threatening a drone or a drone operator, according to Ms. Alkalay, would also be a federal crime subject to five years in prison under this same statute.