Plane spotting in the USA: the First Amendment, airport police and police stops

A Double-Double in your hand, a 777 roaring over you toward the LAX runway, and a dozen people with telephoto lenses next to you: scenes like this exist almost only in the USA. The country is rightly considered one of the most spotter-friendly travel destinations in the world. Still, not everything that is technically possible is allowed. This article explains what the First Amendment means for photographers, where airport operators, airport police and the military draw the line, and how to behave when an officer approaches you at the fence.

The short answer

Plane spotting in the USA is allowed and widespread. If you photograph from public ground what anyone can see anyway, you are well protected by the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and of the press. The limits run along three lines: property (airport grounds, parking structures, private lots), the house rules in terminals, and military installations, which a federal law protects in particular.

Then there is a reality you should know about: since September 11, 2001, security agencies have paid closer attention to people with cameras at airports. A stop is therefore not the end of the world but part of the hobby, and you should be prepared for it.

What the First Amendment protects

The First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. US courts also derive protection for photographing and filming from it. The principle is: what is visible from public ground you may generally photograph – streets, sidewalks, parks and public squares included. This also applies to private buildings or aircraft that you see from there. Exceptions mainly concern areas where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

For spotters this means: the public park under the final approach, the sidewalk along the airport fence and the parking lot of a restaurant that expressly welcomes guests are typical places where you can rely on this protection. That is exactly why there are so many established spots in the USA, such as the In-N-Out Burger on the LAX approach path, Gravelly Point at Washington Reagan Airport or Founders’ Plaza in Dallas/Fort Worth, where the airport itself has set up a viewpoint.

What the First Amendment does not do

The protection is strong, but it is not a free pass. It gives you no right to enter property where you are not allowed to be. It does not lift security zones or laws protecting military installations. And it does not oblige anyone to leave you alone: a security guard may approach you, and a police officer may ask questions. What matters is what may happen afterward – more on that below.

Airport grounds: the operator’s rules

US commercial airports mostly belong to cities, counties or dedicated authorities. JFK, Newark and LaGuardia, for example, are operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. An important distinction follows: an airport is in public hands, but it is not automatically public space in the sense of the First Amendment.

That is exactly what the Supreme Court decided in 1992 in International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. Lee. The case concerned Port Authority terminals at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark. The court classified the terminals as a nonpublic forum. The operator may issue rules there as long as they are reasonable. The case was about soliciting donations, not photography – but the logic carries over: in the terminal, in parking structures and on the airport’s access roads, the operator’s house rules apply in case of doubt.

In practice this means:

• In the terminal, photography is mostly tolerated as long as you do not obstruct anyone. If staff tell you to stop, you stop.
• Parking structure roofs are popular with spotters but belong to the airport. Whether photography is allowed there is up to the operator, and that can change at any time.
• If you stay although you are told to leave, you risk a trespassing charge. That applies on airport grounds just as on private property.

How the operator’s house rules work in Germany is described in House rules at the airport. The basic idea is similar in the USA, even if the legal terms differ.

Photos at the security checkpoint

One point surprises many Europeans: the TSA, which carries out passenger screening in the USA, states explicitly in its FAQ that it does not prohibit photographing and filming at checkpoints. The condition is that you do not disrupt the process and do not reveal sensitive information. Monitors of the screening equipment that are shielded from the public are off-limits. Local authorities and airport operators can have additional restrictions. In Europe the situation is considerably stricter, as Photographing at the security checkpoint shows.

For spotters this is still not an invitation. The checkpoint is not a photo subject, and anyone fiddling with a telephoto lens there only causes questions and delays.

The military: the hard limit

While civilian airports are comparatively relaxed, the military is a different world. The federal law 18 U.S.C. § 795 prohibits photographing, sketching or otherwise depicting certain military installations and equipment without the prior permission of the responsible commander. Which installations are meant is set out in an executive order from 1950: it covers facilities and equipment classified as secret or restricted within military restricted areas. Violations can be punished with a fine and up to one year in prison.

For you as a spotter this means:

• Respect signs. Notices like “Photography Prohibited” at base entrances are meant seriously.
• Do not photograph gates, guards or fence lines of military bases. Interest in the aircraft does not explain why a guard booth is in the frame.
• Be careful at joint-use airports. At some civilian airports, military units are stationed as well. What you see from a public spot is not automatically uncritical.
• Aviation museums and airshows are the relaxed way to military aircraft. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton or the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson show aircraft you will not see this close anywhere else.

How to classify US military aircraft by their serials is explained in US military serials. General rules for military airfields can be found in Photographing military airfields.

Why you may be approached anyway

The US Department of Homeland Security uses the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to encourage people to report suspicious behavior. The list of warning signs also includes photography – but what is meant is covert recording of people, buildings or infrastructure, such as security equipment, staff or rarely used entrances. Such behavior should be reported only if it points to a possible terrorism link. Openly photographing a landing airliner from a well-known spot is something else.

In practice, an attentive passerby is still sometimes enough to send a patrol car by. A long telephoto lens, a scanner on your belt, a car parked at the roadside for hours: all of that can raise questions. Why big lenses in particular arouse suspicion is described in Big telephoto, big suspicion.

Who can approach you

At US airports you will meet quite different uniforms depending on the place:

Who	Typical role	What you should know
Airport police	dedicated police agency of many airport operators, such as the Port Authority Police in New York	full police powers on the grounds and often in the surrounding area
Local police / sheriff	responsible for streets and parks around the airport	applies the law of the respective state
TSA	passenger screening in the terminal	not a general police force, authority limited to screening
Private security	on behalf of the operator or companies	may send you away under house rules, but may not detain you like police
Military police	at and outside bases	strict rules, hardly any leeway here

What may happen in a police stop

US law roughly distinguishes three levels. If you know them, you understand faster which situation you are in.

The question “Am I free to go?” is the usual way to clarify whether you are at level 1 or 2. If you get no clear answer or a no, you are being detained.

Giving your name and showing ID

Whether you have to identify yourself is a matter for the states. Around half of them have stop-and-identify laws. In 2004, in Hiibel, the Supreme Court confirmed that a state may require a lawfully detained person to give their name. You do not have to answer further questions there. As a tourist, though, the legal question is secondary: a passport that is quickly on the table when asked ends most stops within a few minutes.

Photos, camera and memory card

There is no general authority to make you delete photos taken from public space. In 2014, in Riley v. California, the Supreme Court ruled that police may, as a rule, search the data on a phone after an arrest only with a warrant. How far that carries over to cameras and memory cards depends on the individual case. For you the following applies:

• Do not delete anything voluntarily. Deleted images may be missing later when you want to prove that you photographed only aircraft.
• Showing voluntarily is your decision. Many spotters show a few pictures on the display because that relaxes the situation immediately. Without a warrant, the officer generally has no right to it.
• No resistance. If the camera is taken anyway, do not resist physically. Note the name, badge number and agency and sort out the rest later.

You will find more on dealing with confiscated gear in Camera or memory card confiscated and Police stop while spotting. Both articles refer to the situation in Germany, but the basic attitude carries over.

Filming the police?

Several federal courts of appeals have recognized a right to record police activity in public space. A well-known example is the First Circuit’s Glik v. Cunniffe from 2011. So legally you may often film. Tactically it is rarely smart: a camera suddenly pointed at the officer quickly turns a two-minute conversation into a tense situation.

How to behave in a stop

Knowing your rights is good. Enforcing them on the spot is rarely the smartest path for visitors on a tourist visa or ESTA. This has proven itself:

One more sentence on the car: if you are pulled over in a rental car, stay seated, keep your hands on the wheel and wait for instructions. That is the usual procedure in the USA and not a sign of distrust toward you.

Drones and radio: short notes

A drone at the airport is as bad an idea in the USA as in Europe. The FAA regulates drone flight, and the controlled airspace around commercial airports is off-limits without clearance. You do not need one for spotting pictures at the fence anyway. You will find the European perspective in Drones at airports.

When it comes to aviation radio, the USA is traditionally more liberal than many European countries, and live streams of tower frequencies are widespread there. Still, you should use a scanner at the spot discreetly. To outsiders it quickly looks as if you were deliberately gathering information. How the topic is regulated in Germany is explained in Listening to aviation radio.

Typical spots and what applies there

The well-known US spots are so popular because they are legally uncomplicated: public parks, restaurants and official viewpoints.

• Los Angeles: Besides the In-N-Out Burger, Imperial Hill is a classic with a view of the south runways of LAX. Plane spotting in Los Angeles presents all the spots in the city.
• New York: Planeview Park in Queens lies under the approach to LaGuardia, and the TWA Hotel offers a view of the JFK apron.
• Washington: Gravelly Point is a National Park Service park right at the runway end of Reagan National. Gravelly Point in Washington has the details.
• Las Vegas: Sunset Park lies right next to Harry Reid Airport; more in Plane spotting in Las Vegas.

At these places, too, the parks’ opening hours and the operators’ rules apply. If you stay in a closed park after sunset, you will soon be talking to a ranger. You will find more on trip planning, rental cars and routes in Plane spotting trip to the USA. And if you want to read the aircraft’s N-numbers correctly: US N-numbers.

What to watch out for

• One state is not like another. Much of police and trespass law is regulated by the states themselves. What applies in Texas does not have to apply the same way in California.
• Rights are not a script. A visitor who invokes constitutional rights is often legally right but still ends up longer at the roadside. De-escalation saves you time.
• Read the signs. There are often no-stopping zones on airport roads. A rental car on the shoulder of an access road is a common reason for a stop.
• Respect people. The USA has no GDPR-like right to one’s own image in public space. Still, it is fair not to photograph families and children at the spot without asking. More on this in People in spotter photos.
• No legal advice. This article outlines the basics but is no substitute for a lawyer. In a real emergency you ask for a lawyer and have the German embassy or the nearest consulate informed.

Spotting abroad gives an overview of countries where the situation is considerably touchier. How quickly things can get serious there is shown by the examples from the United Arab Emirates or the Kalamata case.

Conclusion

The USA makes it easy for spotters: the First Amendment protects photography in public space, and many airports have well-known, legal spots right outside the door. The limits lie with property, with the house rules in the terminal and above all with the military, where a federal law makes unauthorized images punishable. If it comes to a stop, your demeanor decides more than any statute: stay calm, show your passport, explain the hobby and do not let anyone make you delete anything.