Flying drones at night under Part 107

What the April 2021 rule changed

Since April 21, 2021, a Part 107 pilot may fly at night and over people routinely, without the individual waivers those flights used to need.

The Operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People final rule was published in the Federal Register on January 15, 2021, and corrections delayed its effective date from March 16 to April 21, 2021. It amended Part 107 to permit routine operations over people, moving vehicles and at night under conditions.

For a working pilot the change was commercial, not just regulatory. Evening real-estate shoots, thermal inspection after dark and event coverage became bookable work with no waiver application in between. The currency guide covers the training half of the same rule.

April 21, 2021The Operations Over People final rule was published January 15, 2021, and corrections published March 10, 2021 delayed its effective date from March 16 to April 21, 2021. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

The FAA states the final rule amends part 107 by permitting routine operations of small unmanned aircraft over people, moving vehicles, and at night under certain conditions. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

The two conditions on night work

Night flying is allowed under two conditions: current training and a light. Both sit on the pilot, not the client.

The remote pilot in command must have completed the updated initial knowledge test or online recurrent training, which since April 6, 2021 includes a night-operations knowledge area. And the aircraft must carry lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least three statute miles, with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision.

The lighting rule has a flexibility worth knowing: the pilot may reduce the intensity but may not extinguish the light when operating conditions make that the safer choice. And civil twilight counts as night for equipment purposes, defined outside Alaska as 30 minutes before official sunrise and 30 minutes after official sunset, so the light goes on before the sky is actually dark.

3 statute milesUnder 14 CFR 107.29, night operation requires training completed after April 6, 2021, and anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles, which the pilot may reduce but not extinguish. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

30 minutesThe FAA defines civil twilight outside Alaska as beginning 30 minutes before official sunrise and ending 30 minutes after official sunset, with the lighting rule applying throughout. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

The small unmanned aircraft has lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles that has a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision. The remote pilot in command may reduce the intensity of, but may not extinguish, the anti-collision lighting.

The four categories for flying over people

Flying over people is no longer a waiver question. It is a category question, set by the aircraft and the operation, in four tiers.

Category 1 covers aircraft weighing 0.55 pounds or less with no exposed rotating parts that would cause lacerations. Categories 2 and 3 are performance-based paths for heavier aircraft without an airworthiness certificate, and Category 3 carries real restrictions: no open-air assemblies at all, and over-people flight only within a closed or restricted-access site where everyone is on notice, or without sustained flight over any non-participant.

Category 4 is for aircraft holding an airworthiness certificate under part 21 whose approved limitations permit operations over people. The default for most small commercial fleets is that flying over non-participants stays off the menu unless the aircraft and the site fit a category, and the pilot must still judge course, speed and trajectory, including the possibility of a catastrophic failure.

0.55 poundsUnder the operations over people rule, Category 1 small unmanned aircraft may operate over people if they weigh 0.55 pounds or less and contain no exposed rotating parts that would cause lacerations. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

Category 3 operations may not fly over open-air assemblies, and may operate over people only within a closed- or restricted-access site where everyone is on notice. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

Category 4 allows aircraft with an airworthiness certificate under part 21 to operate over people, if the approved flight manual limitations do not prohibit it. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

Assemblies, moving vehicles and the Remote ID tie-in

Sustained flight over an open-air assembly is its own line, and it crosses into Remote ID territory, which is why the two rules travel together.

For Categories 1, 2 and 4, sustained flight over an open-air assembly is permitted only if the operation is compliant with Remote ID. Hovering over the heads of an assembled crowd, flying back and forth over it, or circling above it all count as sustained flight, and a brief one-time transit on the way somewhere else does not.

Over moving vehicles, the rule permits operations that meet Category 1, 2 or 3 either within a closed- or restricted-access site where occupants are on notice, or without maintaining sustained flight over the vehicles. Category 4 aircraft add the flight manual on top. If your aircraft is not broadcast-equipped at all, the Remote ID page covers the retrofit route and the FRIA option.

For Category 1, 2 and 4 operations, sustained flight over open-air assemblies is barred unless the operation is compliant with Remote ID. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

The final rule permits operations over moving vehicles if the operation meets Category 1, 2 or 3 and either stays within a restricted-access site or holds no sustained flight over the vehicles. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

What the rule did not change for a working pilot

The rule widened night work and over-people work. It left the rest of Part 107's operating limits exactly where they were, and a night job still runs into every one of them.

Visual line of sight still governs: the pilot or a visual observer must be able to see the aircraft throughout the flight, unaided beyond corrective lenses. One pilot still flies one aircraft at a time. The aircraft still caps at 400 feet above ground level, unless within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no more than 400 feet above its uppermost limit, at 87 knots groundspeed, with 3 statute miles of flight visibility and the cloud distances.

Controlled airspace still needs authorization, at any hour. So the practical night checklist is the day checklist plus a light and current training, and the preflight checklist collects the whole list in one place.

14 CFR 107.35Under 14 CFR 107.35, a person may not manipulate flight controls or act as remote pilot in command or visual observer in the operation of more than one unmanned aircraft at the same time. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

400 feetUnder 14 CFR 107.51, groundspeed may not exceed 87 knots, altitude may not exceed 400 feet above ground level unless near a structure, and visibility must be 3 statute miles clear of cloud. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

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