If flying your drone directly overhead of people has been a sore spot for you, then friend you’re in luck.
The FAA has recently updated the specifics around commercially operating drones under the Part 107 rules for flights over people, and while it is now legal to fly drones over people (and vehicles too) there are a few caveats (not to mention some math involved) you must be aware of in order to do so legally.
In this article we will [attempt to] answer the question, “Can you fly drones over people?”, as well as provide some insight into navigating the specifics around the various answers to that question. In short...
Yes, you can fly drones over people—as long as you remain in compliance and are broadcasting your Remote ID throughout the entire operation.
Despite that answer ultimately being yes, the FAA has a few stipulations that one must be aware of in order to remain compliant during any operation.
In an effort to accommodate a wide range of aircraft for different use cases, the FAA created various operational categories based on aircraft weight and/or force caused upon impact, keeping operational limitations at a minimum for RPIC’s of most micro and smaller consumer drones. We’ll discuss each of these categories in detail below.
If you’re looking for information on the other new FAA Drone Rules, check out our article: “2021 New FAA Drone Regulations: Summary and Overview”.
CATEGORIES OF FLIGHTS OVER PEOPLE
The following four categories of flights over people classify each in a manner based on either weight, force of impact, airworthiness, or some combination thereof. Let’s look at each flight category in detail.
Category 1 sUAS Operations
For a pilot to comply and fly under the Category 1 rating, the UAV or drone can not weigh more than .55 pounds (249.4758 grams) at the time of takeoff and for the duration of the flight, and this includes any equipment attached to the aircraft such as lights, prop-guards, memory card, etc.). Additionally, the aircraft must not have any exposed rotating parts that could lacerate human skin upon impact and must display the category of operation on the aircraft along with other registration information.
It’s worth noting that the FAA has already announced they will conduct a retrospective on whether to increase the weight limit or do away with the skin-laceration requirement under Category 1, but not categories two or three.
Category 2 sUAS Operations
For Category 2 flights over people, the FAA states that the UAV must be designed and fall within the weight limit requirements so as not to cause greater than 11 foot-pounds of kinetic energy upon impact from a rigid object. As with Category 1, the aircraft must not have any exposed rotating parts that could lacerate human skin upon impact and must display the category of operation on the aircraft with other registration information.
Category 3 sUAS Operations
In the third category, the FAA has considered larger UAVs and states a UAV operating under Category 3 can not produce greater than 25 foot-pounds of kinetic energy upon impact from a rigid object. The aircraft must not have any exposed rotating parts that could lacerate human skin upon impact and must display the category of operation on the aircraft with other registration information, same as the first and second categories.
Additionally, with Category 3, pilots may not operate a UAV over open-air assemblies of people, and must fall into one of two operational scenarios. The first being that the operation is being conducted in a closed or restricted-access site with all individuals at the location on notice and aware of the UAS operation. The second prohibits sustained flight over people unless those people are directly participating in the operation or have sufficient protection from a structure or non-moving vehicle.
Category 4 sUAS Operations
In order to comply with Category 4 operations, a pilot must maintain an “Airworthiness Certificate” for their aircraft from the FAA under Part 21. The rule also states that the UAV be “operated in accordance with the operating limitations specified in the approved Flight Manual or as otherwise specified by the Administrator”, and are subject to additional maintenance requirements.
UNPACKING THE FLIGHT CATEGORIES
Category 1 Considerations
Category 1 flights over people are clearly meant for micro-drones as the weight requirements eliminate most prosumer and consumer level drones on the market today. It’s worth mentioning the DJI Mini or Mini 2 UAVs, as they both fall within the weight limits for this category out of the box. However, upon closer inspection, the addition of lights, prop-guards, and your SD-card comes awfully close to eclipsing the 249.4758-gram threshold.
Image Credit: @moisamihai092
Category 1 flights over people can be performed starting 60-days after the Federal Register publication as long as the UAV has no exposed rotating parts to lacerate skin or the operator has installed devices like propeller guards.
Category 2 & 3 Considerations
The FAA’s increased aircraft weights for categories 1 and 2 will ultimately allow pilots to operate more commercially available aircraft in these scenarios. They have also mandated rules outlining how aircraft manufacturers will need to comply with the kinetic energy upon impact requirements, so pilots can be certain what category to operate under, which will go into effect 9–12 months after the effective date.
Category 4 Considerations
These certificates will not be available for 6–12 months after these rules have taken effect, and we’ll be sure to update this article as the FAA releases more information around cat-4 flights over people.
DEFINITIONS
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration
UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (considered the aircraft only, and not the control unit)
DJI: Da-Jiang Innovations (Prominent manufacturer of consumer drones)
UAS/sUAS: Small Unmanned Aircraft System (Aircraft and control unit)
SD: Secure Digital (Small storage device for images and data used in UAVs)
RPIC: Remote Pilot In Command
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