Details of 14 CFR Part 107 Subpart D within Lesson 1 PDF download.
Operations Over Human Beings
(aka: Flying Over Crowds of People & Operations Over People)
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-107/subpart-D

Operations Over Human Beings

This rule amends part 107 by permitting routine operations of small unmanned aircraft over people, moving vehicles, and at night under certain conditions. The remote pilot needs to take into account the small unmanned aircraft’s course, speed, and trajectory, including the possibility of a catastrophic failure, to determine if the small unmanned aircraft would go over or strike a person not directly involved in the flight operation (non-participant). In addition, the remote pilot must take steps using a safety risk-based approach to ensure that:

• the small unmanned aircraft does not operate over non-participants who are not under a covered structure or in a stationary covered vehicle;
• the small unmanned aircraft will pose no undue hazard to other aircraft, people, or property in the event of a loss of control of the aircraft for any reason (§ 107.19);
• the small UAS is not operated in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another (§ 107.23).

If the remote pilot cannot comply with these requirements, then the flight must not take place or the flight must be immediately and safely terminated.

What are the operations over people categories?

The ability to fly over people varies depending on the level of risk your sUAS operation presents to people on the ground. Operations over people are permitted subject to the following requirements:

Category 1 – Small unmanned aircraft are permitted to operate over people, provided the small unmanned aircraft:

• Weighs 0.55 pounds or less, including everything that is on board or otherwise attached to the aircraft at the time of takeoff and throughout the duration of each operation.
• Contains no exposed rotating parts that would cause lacerations. Propeller guards are typically used to satisfy this requirement.
• No remote pilot in command may operate a small unmanned aircraft in sustained flight over open-air assemblies unless the operation is compliant with Remote ID.

Category 2 and Category 3

• Provide performance-based eligibility and operating requirements when conducting operations over people using unmanned aircraft that weigh more than .55 pounds but, do not have an airworthiness certificate under part 21.

For Category 2

• No remote pilot in command may operate a small unmanned aircraft in sustained flight over open-air assemblies of people unless the operation is compliant with Remote ID.

For Category 3

• A remote pilot in command may not operate a small unmanned aircraft in sustained flight over open-air assemblies of people unless the operation is compliant with Remote ID.
• A remote pilot may only operate their drone over people if the operation is within or over a closed or restricted-access site and all of the people on the site have been notified that an sUAS may fly over them; or
• The sUAS does not maintain sustained flight over any person unless that person(s) are participating directly in the operation or said person(s) are located under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle that can provide reasonable protection from a falling small unmanned aircraft.

Category 4  – This category allows small unmanned aircraft that have been issued an airworthiness certificate under part 21 to operate over people:

• as long as the operating limitations specified in the approved Flight Manual or as otherwise specified by the Administrator do not prohibit operations over people;
• provided that no remote pilot in command may operate a small unmanned aircraft in sustained flight over open-air assemblies of people unless the operation is compliant with Remote ID.

To preserve the continued airworthiness of the small unmanned aircraft, and continue to meet a level of reliability that the FAA finds acceptable for operating over people in accordance with Category 4, additional requirements apply.

Note: Sustained flight over an open-air assembly [of people] includes hovering above the heads of persons gathered in an open-air assembly, flying back-and-forth over an open-air assembly, or circling above the assembly in such a way that the small unmanned aircraft remains above some part the assembly.

Important to Note: Sustained flight over an open-air assembly of people in a Category 1, 2, or 4 operation does not include a brief, one-time transiting over a portion of the assembled gathering, where the transit is merely incidental to a point-to-point operation unrelated to the assembly.

Operation over Moving Vehicles

In a change from the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), the final rule permits operations over moving vehicles, provided the small unmanned aircraft operation meets the requirements of Category 1, 2 or 3 and either:

• The small unmanned aircraft must remain within or over a closed or restricted-access site, and all people inside a moving vehicle within the closed or restricted-access site must be on notice that a small unmanned aircraft may fly over them; or
• The small unmanned aircraft does not maintain sustained flight over moving vehicles (includes watercraft).
• A remote pilot may also conduct operations over moving vehicles with a small unmanned aircraft eligible for Category 4 operations providing the applicable operating limitations in the approved Flight Manual, or as otherwise specified by the Administrator, do not prohibit such operation.

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