Part 107 Rules: Altitude, Speed, Visibility and Clouds

Key facts

The groundspeed of your drone may not exceed 87 knots (100 miles per hour).14 CFR 107.51(a)
Fly no higher than 400 feet above ground level, unless you stay within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no higher than 400 feet above its immediate uppermost limit.14 CFR 107.51(b)
Flight visibility from the control station must be at least 3 statute miles.14 CFR 107.51(c)
Keep the drone at least 500 feet below the cloud and 2,000 feet horizontally from the cloud.14 CFR 107.51(d)
Night flight requires an initial knowledge test or training completed after April 6, 2021, and anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles.14 CFR 107.29(a)
A qualifying safety event must be reported to the FAA no later than 10 calendar days after the operation.14 CFR 107.9

Under Part 107 your drone may not exceed 87 knots (100 miles per hour) groundspeed, may not fly higher than 400 feet above ground level unless you stay close to a structure, needs at least 3 statute miles of flight visibility from the control station, and must stay at least 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally from clouds (14 CFR 107.51).

The airspace rules (107.41 to 107.47) are in the drone airspace guide.

The headline limits in 107.51

Limit	What the rule says	Cite
Groundspeed	No more than 87 knots (100 miles per hour)	`14 CFR 107.51(a)`
Altitude	No higher than 400 feet above ground level, with a structure exception	`14 CFR 107.51(b)`
Flight visibility	At least 3 statute miles from the control station	`14 CFR 107.51(c)`
Cloud clearance	At least 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally	`14 CFR 107.51(d)`
Night and civil twilight	Anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles	`14 CFR 107.29`
Category 1 over people	0.55 pounds or less, everything on board included	`14 CFR 107.110(a)(1)`
Alcohol	Not within 8 hours of a drink, no concentration of 0.04 or greater	`14 CFR 91.17(a)`
Safety event report	No later than 10 calendar days after the operation	`14 CFR 107.9`

The structure exception is narrow: the drone may exceed 400 feet only within a 400-foot radius of a structure, and no higher than 400 feet above the structure’s immediate uppermost limit (14 CFR 107.51(b)).

Flight visibility is judged from the control station. The rule defines it as the average slant distance from the control station at which prominent unlighted objects can be seen and identified by day, and prominent lighted objects by night (14 CFR 107.51(c)). The FAA’s advisory circular adds that the drone cannot be flown above any cloud, and that nothing such as smoke or cloud may obstruct visibility between the drone and the remote pilot (AC 107-2A, 5.12.3). Aviation weather reports are one way to confirm both (AC 107-2A, 5.12.3); see the METAR and TAF guide.

Night and civil twilight

To fly at night you need two things (14 CFR 107.29(a)):

An initial knowledge test or training, as applicable, under 107.65 completed after April 6, 2021. The recurrent training guide covers the training route.
Lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles, with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision.

Civil twilight requires only the lighting (14 CFR 107.29(b)). Outside Alaska, civil twilight is the 30 minutes before sunrise and the 30 minutes after sunset; in Alaska it is the period defined in the Air Almanac (14 CFR 107.29(c)). You may reduce the intensity of the lights if operating conditions make that safer, but you may not extinguish them (14 CFR 107.29(a)(2), 14 CFR 107.29(b)).

At night you cannot rely only on anti-collision lighting or telemetry to meet the visual line of sight rule (AC 107-2A, 5.9.3).

Visual line of sight, observers and one aircraft at a time

With vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, the remote pilot in command, the person manipulating the controls and any visual observer must be able to see the drone throughout the flight, well enough to know its location, judge its attitude, altitude and direction, watch for traffic and hazards, and confirm it endangers no one (14 CFR 107.31(a)). Either the remote pilot and the person on the controls, or a visual observer, must exercise that ability for the whole flight (14 CFR 107.31(b)). Binoculars may be used only momentarily, and a first person view device does not satisfy the requirement (AC 107-2A, 5.9.1).

A visual observer is optional (AC 107-2A, 5.9.2). If you use one, the crew must keep effective communication at all times, the remote pilot must ensure the observer can see the drone as 107.31 describes, and the crew must coordinate to scan the airspace and track the drone by direct visual observation (14 CFR 107.33).

No person may manipulate the flight controls, or act as remote pilot in command or visual observer, for more than one unmanned aircraft at the same time (14 CFR 107.35).

Right of way, hazards and moving vehicles

Right of way. Yield to all aircraft, airborne vehicles, and launch and reentry vehicles, and do not pass over, under or ahead of them unless well clear (14 CFR 107.37(a)). Never fly so close as to create a collision hazard (14 CFR 107.37(b)).
Careless or reckless operation that endangers the life or property of another is prohibited (14 CFR 107.23(a)).
Dropping objects is not banned outright. The rule prohibits dropping an object in a manner that creates an undue hazard to persons or property (14 CFR 107.23(b)).
Moving vehicles. Never from a moving aircraft. From a moving land or water-borne vehicle only over a sparsely populated area, and not while transporting another person’s property for compensation or hire (14 CFR 107.25).
Hazardous material, as defined in 49 CFR 171.8, may not be carried (14 CFR 107.36).

Flying over people and moving vehicles

You may not fly over a person unless that person is directly participating, is under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle that gives reasonable protection, or the operation meets one of the four categories in subpart D (14 CFR 107.39).

Category	Aircraft requirement	Key operating limit
1	0.55 pounds or less throughout, no exposed rotating parts that would lacerate skin (`14 CFR 107.110(a)`)	No sustained flight over open-air assemblies unless the Remote ID rules in 89.110 or 89.115(a) are met (`14 CFR 107.110(b)`)
2	Cannot cause injury equal to or worse than an 11 foot-pound kinetic energy transfer from a rigid object, no lacerating exposed rotating parts, no safety defects, on an FAA-accepted declaration of compliance and labeled (`14 CFR 107.115(a)`, `14 CFR 107.120(a)`)	Same open-air assembly limit (`14 CFR 107.115(b)`)
3	As Category 2, with a 25 foot-pound threshold (`14 CFR 107.125(a)`, `14 CFR 107.130(a)`)	Never over open-air assemblies; over people only inside a closed- or restricted-access site where they are on notice, or with no sustained flight over anyone not participating or protected as in 107.39 (`14 CFR 107.125(b)`, `14 CFR 107.125(c)`)
4	Airworthiness certificate under part 21, flown within its approved Flight Manual limitations or as the FAA specifies (`14 CFR 107.140(b)`)	Same open-air assembly limit (`14 CFR 107.140(a)(2)`)

Over people inside moving vehicles, Categories 1 to 3 must either stay within or over a closed- or restricted-access site where those people are on notice, or avoid sustained flight over moving vehicles. Category 4 needs an airworthiness certificate and limitations that do not prohibit it (14 CFR 107.145).

Preflight duties, alcohol and safety event reports

Before flight you must assess local weather, local airspace and flight restrictions, people and property on the surface, and other ground hazards. You must also brief everyone directly participating, confirm the control links work, confirm enough power for the intended operational time, and secure any attached object (14 CFR 107.49). Check that the system is in a condition for safe operation, and do not continue a flight once you know or have reason to know it no longer is (14 CFR 107.15).

The remote pilot, the person on the controls and the visual observer must comply with 91.17 and 91.19 (14 CFR 107.27): no acting as a crewmember within 8 hours of drinking alcohol, while under the influence, while using a drug that affects your faculties contrary to safety, or with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater (14 CFR 91.17(a)), and no operating with knowledge that narcotic drugs, marihuana, or depressant or stimulant drugs are carried in the aircraft, unless a Federal or State statute or agency authorizes it (14 CFR 91.19).

Section 107.9 is titled Safety event reporting. No later than 10 calendar days after the operation, report to the FAA any operation involving serious injury to any person, any loss of consciousness, or damage to property other than the drone. Property damage is reportable unless the repair cost, or the fair market value in a total loss, does not exceed the threshold in 107.9 (14 CFR 107.9).

Remote ID in brief

After September 16, 2023, you may not fly unless you meet 89.110 or 89.115, unless the FAA authorizes otherwise (14 CFR 89.105). The FAA says registered drones, and drones required to be registered, must comply in one of three ways: a standard Remote ID drone, a Remote ID broadcast module, or flying inside an FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FAA, Remote Identification of Drones). With a broadcast module or inside a recognition area, the person on the controls must be able to see the drone at all times (14 CFR 89.115). If the broadcast stops, land as soon as practicable (14 CFR 89.110(a)(2), 14 CFR 89.115(a)(4)).

Rules you can waive, and rules you cannot

A certificate of waiver may authorize deviation only from the rules listed in 107.205 (14 CFR 107.200(a)): 107.25, 107.29(a)(2) and (b), 107.31, 107.33, 107.35, 107.37(a), 107.39, 107.41, 107.51 and 107.145. For 107.25 and 107.31, no waiver will allow carrying another person’s property for compensation or hire (14 CFR 107.205). Rules such as 107.23, 107.27 and 107.36 are not on the list. Waiver applications now go through the FAA’s Aviation Safety Hub (FAA, Part 107 Waivers).

For night flight, only the anti-collision lighting in 107.29(a)(2) and (b) is on the waiver list. The condition in 107.29(a)(1), a test or training completed after April 6, 2021, is not.

The ACS lists all four 107.51 limits as knowledge elements (FAA-S-ACS-10B, UA.I.B.K21). See the Part 107 test guide and the practice questions.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from these public FAA documents and the eCFR. If the FAA updates one, the source wins.

Part 107 rules: the operating limits for small drones

Key facts

The headline limits in 107.51

Night and civil twilight

Visual line of sight, observers and one aircraft at a time

Right of way, hazards and moving vehicles

Flying over people and moving vehicles

Preflight duties, alcohol and safety event reports

Remote ID in brief

Rules you can waive, and rules you cannot

Sources

Get Part 107 Trainer

Key facts

The headline limits in 107.51

Night and civil twilight

Visual line of sight, observers and one aircraft at a time

Right of way, hazards and moving vehicles

Flying over people and moving vehicles

Preflight duties, alcohol and safety event reports

Remote ID in brief

Rules you can waive, and rules you cannot

Sources

Related guides

Get Part 107 Trainer