A preflight checklist for commercial drone flights

The documents in your bag before you leave

Two documents travel on every paid flight: the remote pilot certificate with identification, and the registration certificate for each aircraft, paper or digital, with its number marked on the airframe.

The FAA requires both in physical possession when operating, ready to present on request, and federal law adds that pilots of drones requiring registration must show the certificate to any federal, state or local law enforcement officer who asks. If another pilot flies your drone, they carry your registration certificate.

That last clause is the one working operations forget. A crew member flying a company aircraft without the registration certificate in their possession is undocumented on a legal flight, and the fix is a copy in the flight bag, not an argument at the field.

The FAA states small UAS operators must have their remote pilot certificate and identification in their physical possession when operating, ready to present to authorized individuals upon request. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

The FAA requires the registration certificate, paper or digital, in the operator's possession when flying, the number marked on the aircraft, and presentation to law enforcement on request. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

The equipment check at the site

At the site, before the drone leaves the ground, three equipment checks cover the regulatory side: Remote ID broadcasting, lighting if the light is low, and one working aircraft.

Remote ID is a preflight item: for a broadcast module, the rule requires the person manipulating the flight controls to ensure the module is functioning before takeoff, and to land as soon as practicable if the broadcast stops. For anti-collision lighting, it is required in civil twilight and at night, visible for at least three statute miles, dimmable but not extinguishable.

One pilot, one aircraft, is the whole of the multi-aircraft rule: a person may not act as remote pilot in command or visual observer for more than one unmanned aircraft at the same time. A two-drone show needs a second certificated pilot, not a faster thumb. The Remote ID page covers the equipment routes if the fleet is not broadcast-capable yet.

14 CFR 89.115Under 14 CFR 89.115, before takeoff the pilot must ensure the Remote ID broadcast module is functioning, and must land the aircraft as soon as practicable if it stops broadcasting. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

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

The airspace question before the first battery

Ask the airspace question before the first battery goes in, because the answer decides whether the flight starts with paperwork or with the props.

In Class B, C or D airspace, or within the lateral boundaries of a Class E surface area designated for an airport, a Part 107 flight needs prior authorization from air traffic control. LAANC provides near-real-time authorizations at pre-approved altitudes through FAA-approved UAS service suppliers, and requests may be submitted up to 90 days in advance.

Flying above a UAS Facility Map altitude, but still under 400 feet, goes to further coordination, which needs at least 72 hours' lead before the requested start time. For airports with no LAANC at all, FAADroneZone handles the request manually at the FAA service centers. A pilot who leaves this to the morning of the job is one queue away from refunding a client.

14 CFR 107.41Under 14 CFR 107.41, a small unmanned aircraft may not operate in Class B, C or D airspace or a Class E airport surface area without prior authorization from air traffic control. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

90 daysThe FAA states LAANC provides near-real-time authorizations at pre-approved altitudes through approved suppliers, requests may go in 90 days ahead, and further coordination needs 72 hours. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

The limits that apply every second of the flight

Four operating limits run from takeoff to landing, and a checklist that does not name them is a checklist that only covers the paperwork.

Stay within 400 feet above ground level, unless within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no higher than 400 feet above its uppermost limit. Stay at or under 87 knots groundspeed. Keep 3 statute miles of flight visibility from the control station, with at least 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally from cloud.

And keep the aircraft in visual line of sight, unaided beyond corrective lenses, able to know its location, attitude, altitude and direction, and to scan for other traffic, throughout the entire flight. A visual observer can carry that duty with the pilot. The light, the broadcast and the documents make the flight legal. These limits keep it that way.

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

14 CFR 107.31Under 14 CFR 107.31, the remote pilot in command, a visual observer, and the person manipulating the controls must be able to see the aircraft throughout the entire flight. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

What a checklist cannot cover

A checklist covers the rules. It cannot cover the judgment Part 107 puts on the pilot by name, and that judgment is where the paid work actually lives.

The FAA states the remote pilot must take into account the aircraft's course, speed and trajectory, including the possibility of a catastrophic failure, to determine whether it would go over or strike a non-participant, and must not operate over non-participants who are not under a covered structure or in a stationary covered vehicle.

That is a per-flight, per-site call, made with the client watching, and it is the reason the pilot certificate attaches to a person and not a company. If the flight cannot meet these requirements, the FAA's own instruction is that it must not take place or must be immediately and safely terminated. The night rules page covers the categories that widen what is legal over people, and the certification guide covers the rest of what the certificate asks of the person holding it.

The FAA states the pilot must account for the aircraft's course, speed and trajectory, including catastrophic failure, and avoid overflying unprotected non-participants. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

The FAA states that if the remote pilot cannot comply with the operations over people requirements, the flight must not take place or must be immediately and safely terminated. — Federal Aviation Administration, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions