The law in the United States: two routes, registration and Remote ID.

What this page rests on

Every faa.gov page this site's research tried returned an error, and the official eCFR redirected to a bot check. So US law here is read from the statute and regulation texts as published by Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute (LII), from Federal Register documents, and from FAA talking points published on FAASafety.gov. Two Part 89 points come from a third-party copy of the codified text and are labelled as such. Where a point rests only on a search summary of an FAA page, it is marked unconfirmed. The FAA's own current wording governs.

This page covers United States federal law only. No other country's rules apply here, and these rules apply nowhere else.

Two routes: 44809 or Part 107

Recreational flying under 49 U.S.C. 44809

49 U.S.C. 44809, enacted on 5 October 2018 and last amended by Public Law 118-63 on 16 May 2024, lets a person fly a small unmanned aircraft without specific FAA certification or operating authority, but only if all eight conditions in subsection (a) are met:

1. The flight is strictly for recreation.
2. It follows the safety guidelines of a community-based organisation (CBO), developed with the FAA, or is within that organisation's programming.
3. The aircraft stays within the visual line of sight of the operator, or of a visual observer co-located and in direct communication with the operator.
4. It does not interfere with, and gives way to, manned aircraft.
5. In Class B, C or D airspace, or the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport, the operator has prior authorisation from the FAA or its designee.
6. In Class G airspace, it flies from the surface to no more than 400 feet above ground level, unless the FAA sets otherwise or subsection (c) applies, and it follows all airspace restrictions, including temporary flight restrictions.
7. The operator has passed the aeronautical knowledge and safety test under subsection (g) and keeps proof to show the FAA or law enforcement on request.
8. The aircraft is registered and marked under chapter 441, with proof of registration available on request.

The FAA calls the subsection (g) test TRUST (The Recreational UAS Safety Test); that name comes from an FAA FAQ title seen in search, as the page itself could not be opened.

Subsection (h) defines a CBO as a membership association recognised by the FAA, described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, with a mission demonstrably about model aviation, comprehensive safety guidelines, and support for local clubs and flying sites. A search summary of the FAA's CBO page (unconfirmed) says a flyer need not be a member of a CBO to fly under its guidelines but should be able to say which CBO's guidelines they follow, and that no recognised CBO's guidelines allow recreational flight directly over open-air crowds.

The 2024 amendment added subsection (c): the FAA must set up a process to approve recreational fixed sites, and in Class G airspace at an approved fixed site flights may go up to 400 feet above ground level without prior authorisation.

Everything else: 14 CFR Part 107

Flights that do not meet all the 44809 conditions fall under the FAA's small unmanned aircraft rules, 14 CFR Part 107 (a search summary of FAA pages; the FAA's own wording was not read). Part 107 points relevant to FPV:

• 107.31 and 107.33: visual line of sight and visual observers; see flying with goggles and observers.
• 107.39 (as amended on 15 January 2021): no flying over a person unless they are directly participating, are under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle giving reasonable protection, or the flight meets one of the categories in Subpart D (107.110 to 107.140).
• 107.51 (as summarised by search of the LII copy): groundspeed at most 87 knots (100 mph); at most 400 feet above ground unless within 400 feet of a structure; at least 3 statute miles of visibility; and set distances below and away from cloud.
• 107.61: a remote pilot certificate applicant must be at least 16 and able to read, speak, write and understand English.
• 107.205: the FAA can waive several rules, including 107.31 (visual line of sight), 107.33 (visual observer), 107.35 (multiple aircraft), 107.39 (over people), 107.41 (certain airspace) and 107.51 (operating limits).

Registration

Under 14 CFR 48.15, as amended on 15 January 2021 (Amendment 48-3), no one may fly a registration-eligible small unmanned aircraft unless the owner has registered and marked it, or it is flown only under 49 U.S.C. 44809 and weighs 0.55 pounds or less at take-off, including everything on board or attached, or it belongs to the US armed forces. The FAA said in its 2015 registration rule (seen as a search summary) that 0.55 pounds is the equivalent of 250 grams.

The under-0.55-pound exception has changed over time. The 2016 text, as summarised by search, exempted any aircraft of 0.55 pounds or less; later editions add that it must be flown exclusively under 44809. The current LII text carries the 44809 condition. So a light aircraft flown under Part 107 is not covered by the exception.

Ages

• 14 CFR 48.25(b) (1 January 2019 edition): an owner under 13 cannot register; a person at least 13 must register the aircraft.
• 14 CFR 107.61(a): a Part 107 remote pilot certificate requires age 16.
• 49 U.S.C. 44809, as read, sets no minimum age for recreational flyers.

Remote ID: 14 CFR Part 89

The Remote Identification rule, Part 89, was published in the Federal Register on 15 January 2021. Its effective date is reported two ways: the Federal Register text gives 16 March 2021, while a trade report (seen as a search summary) says it moved to 21 April 2021 for administrative reasons. The operating rules have applied since 16 September 2023:

• 89.105: from 16 September 2023 no one may fly an unmanned aircraft in US airspace unless the flight meets 89.110 (a standard Remote ID aircraft) or 89.115 (alternative compliance), except as the FAA authorises or under 89.120.
• 89.101(a) (read from a copy of the codified text on a third-party site, because the official eCFR could not be opened): the operating rules apply to aircraft registered, or required to be registered, under Part 47 or 48, and to foreign civil unmanned aircraft flown in the US. The FAA's own talking points of 1 July 2024 likewise say the rule covers any drone registered or required to be registered, which the FAA says includes every drone flown under Part 107 and recreational drones over 0.55 pounds.
• 89.115(a): an aircraft without standard Remote ID may carry a Remote ID broadcast module listed on an FAA-accepted declaration of compliance and tied to its registration; it must broadcast from take-off to shutdown, the person at the controls must be able to see the aircraft at all times, and if the broadcast fails the aircraft must land as soon as practicable.
• 89.115(b): an aircraft with no Remote ID may fly only if it and the person at the controls stay inside an FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA) for the whole flight, with the aircraft in sight. The final rule preamble says FRIAs may be requested by FAA-recognised CBOs and educational institutions, and the 2024 amendment, 44809(c)(4), told the FAA to prioritise FRIA requests at approved fixed sites.
• Home-built aircraft: 89.501(c), read from a copy of the codified text on a third-party site (the official eCFR could not be opened), exempts home-built aircraft from the design and production rules. The final rule as published in the Federal Register on 15 January 2021 says home-built aircraft without Remote ID may fly only in a FRIA unless fitted with a broadcast module, so they remain under the operating rules.

The FAA announced in September 2023 (Federal Register document 2023-20074) that it would use enforcement discretion for operator noncompliance on or before 16 March 2024. Its July 2024 talking points name drone racing organisations as an example of operators that may ask the FAA for authorisation to deviate from the operating rules. No later FAA statement could be read. More on Remote ID.

Enforcement

49 U.S.C. 44809(e) keeps the FAA's power to take enforcement action against anyone, recreational flyers included, who endangers the national airspace system. An FAA notice scheduled for Federal Register publication on 17 April 2026 (document 2026-07585) set up the DETER programme to speed up enforcement against small unmanned aircraft operators, with outcomes including a civil penalty or certificate action. Separately, 18 U.S.C. 39B (added 5 October 2018) makes it a federal crime to fly so as to knowingly or recklessly interfere with an occupied aircraft in a way that poses an imminent safety hazard. See enforcement.

Not covered here

Radio rules for video and control transmitters come from the FCC, not the FAA; see radio rules by country. The AMA's Document 550 (3 March 2021) sets rules for AMA members flying FPV, which are association rules, not federal law; they are on the goggles page. State and local rules were not researched.