Regulations
Part 107 Rules and Operating Limits at a Glance
✓ Reviewed against current FAA sources on October 12, 2026
In this guide
- Who the rule covers
- Operating limits: 107.51
- Seeing and avoiding
- Airspace: 107.41 through 107.47
- Night and civil twilight: 107.29
- Operations over people: 107.39 and Subpart D
- Remote ID: Part 89
- The pilot's own responsibilities
- Safety event reporting: 107.9
- Falsification is no longer 107.5
- Waivers: the ten sections you can ask to deviate from
In short
Regulations are about 48 percent of the Part 107 knowledge test, roughly 29 of the 60 scored questions, which makes them the highest-value thing you can study. Every limit in this guide is given with the section it comes from.
Regulations are about 48 percent of the Part 107 knowledge test, roughly 29 of the 60 scored questions. That makes the rule part itself the single highest-value thing you can study. Every limit below is given with the section it comes from, so you can read the source rather than take our word for it.
Who the rule covers
Part 107 applies to civil small unmanned aircraft systems operated in the United States. A small unmanned aircraft is defined in 107.3 as one weighing less than 55 pounds on takeoff, including everything that is on board or otherwise attached. That last clause is the examinable part: payload, batteries and any added hardware all count toward the limit.
Section 107.1 (opens in a new tab) excludes several things from this rule part, including air carrier operations and any aircraft flown under 49 U.S.C. 44809, the limited recreational exception. If you are flying recreationally under 44809 rather than under Part 107, a different set of conditions applies. See our comparison of Part 107 and the recreational rules.
Operating limits: 107.51
Four limits, and they are asked about constantly.
| Limit | Value | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum groundspeed | 87 knots, which the rule also states as 100 miles per hour | 107.51(a) |
| Maximum altitude | 400 feet AGL, unless the aircraft is flown within a 400-foot radius of a structure and stays no higher than 400 feet above that structure's immediate uppermost limit | 107.51(b) |
| Minimum flight visibility | 3 statute miles, observed from the location of the control station | 107.51(c) |
| Cloud clearance | No less than 500 feet below the cloud and 2,000 feet horizontally from it | 107.51(d) |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Two traps in that table. Visibility is measured from the control station, not from the aircraft, and the rule defines flight visibility for this purpose as the average slant distance at which prominent objects can be seen and identified. And the structure exception is conjunctive: you need both the 400-foot radius and the 400-feet-above-the-top ceiling, not either one.
Seeing and avoiding
- Visual line of sight, 107.31. With vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, the remote pilot in command, the visual observer if one is used, and the person manipulating the controls must be able to see the aircraft throughout the entire flight. The rule gives four purposes: to know its location, to determine its attitude, altitude and direction of flight, to observe the airspace for other traffic or hazards, and to determine that it does not endanger the life or property of another.
- Visual observers, 107.33. If one is used, the remote pilot in command, the person manipulating the controls and the observer must maintain effective communication at all times, and they must coordinate to scan the airspace for collision hazards and keep track of the aircraft by direct visual observation.
- One aircraft at a time, 107.35. No person may manipulate the controls or act as remote pilot in command or visual observer for more than one unmanned aircraft at the same time. This one is waivable.
- Right of way, 107.37. Each small unmanned aircraft must yield to all aircraft, airborne vehicles, and launch and reentry vehicles, not merely to other airplanes. Yielding means giving way and not passing over, under or ahead unless well clear. Paragraph (b) separately prohibits operating so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard.
Airspace: 107.41 through 107.47
Prior ATC authorization is required to operate in Class B, Class C or Class D airspace, or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport (107.41). Note the precision of that last phrase. It is not all Class E, only the surface area designated for an airport.
- 107.43 prohibits operating in a manner that interferes with operations and traffic patterns at any airport, heliport or seaplane base. This applies regardless of airspace class, so it reaches uncontrolled fields too.
- 107.45 requires permission from the using or controlling agency, as appropriate, before operating in prohibited or restricted areas.
- 107.47 requires compliance with the temporary flight restriction rules in 91.137 through 91.145 and with 99.7.
Class G needs no authorization. Our airspace classes guide and sectional chart guide cover how to tell which class you are standing under.
Night and civil twilight: 107.29
Night operations require two things. The remote pilot in command must have completed an initial knowledge test or training under 107.65 after April 6, 2021, and the aircraft must have lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision. During civil twilight the lighting requirement applies on its own.
A detail worth knowing: the remote pilot in command may reduce the intensity of the anti-collision lighting if operating conditions make that safer, but may not extinguish it.
Operations over people: 107.39 and Subpart D
Section 107.39 (opens in a new tab) prohibits operating over a human being unless that person is directly participating in the operation, is under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle that can provide reasonable protection from a falling aircraft, or the operation meets one of the four operational categories in Subpart D.
The categories turn on how much injury the aircraft could cause. Category 1 is the weight category, 0.55 pounds or less with no exposed rotating parts that could lacerate skin. Categories 2 and 3 are defined by kinetic energy limits and require a manufacturer's declaration of compliance. Category 4 requires an airworthiness certificate. Our guide to flying over people works through each category and its conditions.
Remote ID: Part 89
Remote ID lives in its own rule part. An aircraft that must be registered must broadcast identification, either through a standard Remote ID aircraft or a broadcast module, unless it is flown within an FAA-recognized identification area. Operators have been required to comply since September 16, 2023, and the FAA began enforcing the requirement on March 16, 2024. Our Remote ID guide covers the message elements each option broadcasts, which differ.
The pilot's own responsibilities
- Remote pilot in command, 107.19. One must be designated before or during the flight. That person is directly responsible for and the final authority as to the operation, must ensure the aircraft poses no undue hazard to people, aircraft or property in the event of a loss of control, and must ensure the operation complies with the chapter.
- Preflight, 107.49. Before flight the remote pilot in command must assess the operating environment, considering risks to persons and property in the immediate vicinity both on the surface and in the air.
- Alcohol and drugs, 107.27. You must comply with both 91.17 and 91.19. The first covers alcohol and drugs, including the 8-hour rule and the 0.04 blood alcohol concentration threshold; the second prohibits carriage of narcotic drugs. Most summaries cite only 91.17.
- Moving vehicles, 107.25. You may not operate from a moving aircraft at all. You may operate from a moving land or waterborne vehicle only if the flight is over a sparsely populated area and the aircraft is not transporting another person's property for compensation or hire. Both conditions apply.
- Hazardous material, 107.36. A small unmanned aircraft may not carry hazardous material, which the rule defines by reference to 49 CFR 171.8.
Safety event reporting: 107.9
This section is commonly mis-titled, including by study material that has not been revised. It is Safety event reporting, not accident reporting. It was retitled and its thresholds changed in December 2022.
No later than 10 calendar days after the operation, the remote pilot in command must report to the FAA any operation involving at least serious injury to any person or any loss of consciousness, or damage to any property other than the aircraft itself. The property limb is written as an exception rather than a floor: the report is required unless the cost of repair, including materials and labor, does not exceed $500, or the fair market value does not exceed $500 in the event of a total loss.
Falsification is no longer 107.5
A currency point that catches a lot of people. Section 107.5 (opens in a new tab) was removed and reserved effective November 3, 2025. The prohibition on fraudulent or intentionally false statements in applications, certificates, reports and records now lives in 14 CFR Part 3, Subpart D, principally 3.403, which applies across FAA-regulated activity rather than to Part 107 alone. Any guide that still names 107.5 as the falsification rule predates that change.
Waivers: the ten sections you can ask to deviate from
Under 107.200 the Administrator may issue a certificate of waiver authorizing a deviation from any regulation listed in 107.205, on a showing that the proposed operation can be conducted safely under the terms of the waiver. The list is exactly ten entries, and knowing which rules are not on it is as useful as knowing which are.
| Paragraph | Section that may be waived |
|---|---|
| (a) | 107.25, operation from a moving vehicle or aircraft |
| (b) | 107.29(a)(2) and (b), anti-collision lighting at night and in civil twilight |
| (c) | 107.31, visual line of sight |
| (d) | 107.33, visual observer |
| (e) | 107.35, operation of multiple aircraft |
| (f) | 107.37(a), yielding the right of way |
| (g) | 107.39, operation over people |
| (h) | 107.41, operation in certain airspace |
| (i) | 107.51, operating limitations |
| (j) | 107.145, operations over moving vehicles |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Two of those carry an express carve-out. Neither 107.25 nor 107.31 will be waived to allow the carriage of property of another by aircraft for compensation or hire. So a waiver cannot be used to build a beyond-visual-line-of-sight delivery operation under Part 107.
Note also what is absent. The 55-pound weight definition, the registration requirement, the alcohol and drug rules, hazardous material and safety event reporting are not waivable. A waiver is also not the same thing as an airspace authorization: an authorization concerns where you may fly, a waiver concerns which rule you may deviate from. Our waivers guide covers how the application is assessed.
Sources: 14 CFR 107.1 (opens in a new tab), 107.3 (opens in a new tab), 107.9 (opens in a new tab), 107.19 (opens in a new tab), 107.25 (opens in a new tab), 107.27 (opens in a new tab), 107.29 (opens in a new tab), 107.31 (opens in a new tab), 107.33 (opens in a new tab), 107.35 (opens in a new tab), 107.36 (opens in a new tab), 107.37 (opens in a new tab), 107.39 (opens in a new tab), 107.41 (opens in a new tab), 107.43 (opens in a new tab), 107.45 (opens in a new tab), 107.47 (opens in a new tab), 107.49 (opens in a new tab), 107.51 (opens in a new tab), 107.200 (opens in a new tab), 107.205 (opens in a new tab); 14 CFR Part 3, Subpart D; 14 CFR Part 89 (opens in a new tab); 49 U.S.C. 44809.