In a case that could help define the use of unmanned commercial drones in the United States, a federal judge has overturned a government regulator's fine against a drone operator for alleged reckless flying.

Judge Patrick Geraghty of the National Transportation Safety Board, which hears appeals of enforcement actions by the Federal Aviation Administration, dismissed the $10,000 fine lodged against Raphael Pirker, ruling the agency has no authority over small unmanned aircraft, according to a report by Bloomberg.

"This has very significant implications for companies that have been eager to proceed with commercial applications for UAS technologies," Brendan Schulman, Pirker's lawyer, told reporters.

Geraghty explained his ruling by noting at the time of Pirker's Oct. 17, 2011 flight, to shoot a promotional video over the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, "there was no enforceable FAA rule" for the type of model aircraft he, Pirker, used.

The FAA had asserted Pirker's flight, with a plane that was built with a foam wing and weighed less than 5 pounds, was "careless and reckless," therefore qualifying it under the agency's jurisdiction to enforce flying safety.

Pirker flew under bridges, near statues and over pedestrians, as seen on video he, himself, shot of the flight.

While flying a model aircraft "solely for hobby or recreational reasons" doesn't require FAA approval, hobbyists must abide by 1981 guidelines, which includes avoiding populated areas.

Therefore, Pirker didn't qualify as a hobbyist, the FAA had said.

Geraghty's ruling undermines a position document, posted on the FAA Website Feb. 26, that in part says there are "no shades of gray in FAA regulations. Anyone who wants to fly an aircraft -- manned or unmanned -- in U.S. airspace needs some level of FAA approval."

Even before Geraghty's decision, the FAA had met significant challenges in figuring out how to oversee the commercial use of drones that virtually anyone can buy online or at a hobby shop.

In 2012, Congress ordered the FAA to draw up safety rules with which to integrate drones into the skies over the United States by 2015.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has since told a Senate heating he doesn't expect the agency will allow all drone types to fly the skies by then. Instead, permissions for the various drone models would be phased in over a longer period.