Flying over people used to be flatly prohibited without a waiver. The 2021 operations-over-people rule changed that by creating four categories in Part 107 Subpart D, each defined by how much harm the aircraft could do if it fell. The categories are a property of the aircraft, not of your intentions — you do not choose a category, your drone qualifies for one or it does not.
This is Part 107 territory. If you fly recreationally under the statutory exception, Subpart D is not your rulebook: you follow FAA rules and the safety guidelines of a community-based organization, and the sensible reading of those is to keep the aircraft away from people who are not part of your operation.
Category 1
A Category 1 aircraft weighs less than 0.55 pounds (250 grams) including everything on board at takeoff — battery, camera, payload, guards — and has no exposed rotating parts that could lacerate human skin.
No manufacturer paperwork is needed, which makes this the accessible category. In practice it means a sub-250-gram aircraft with propeller guards fitted, where the guards themselves do not push the takeoff weight over the limit. Remote ID requirements still apply as they do to any registered aircraft, and if you intend to fly over an open-air assembly the aircraft must broadcast Remote ID.
Weight is takeoff weight, not box weight
Category 2
Category 2 opens the door to heavier aircraft, at the cost of manufacturer involvement. It requires that the drone:
- transfers no more than 11 foot-pounds of kinetic energy to a human body on impact, as demonstrated by an FAA-accepted test method;
- has no exposed rotating parts that could lacerate skin;
- contains no safety defects; and
- is covered by a Declaration of Compliance that the manufacturer has submitted and the FAA has accepted.
You cannot self-certify into Category 2. If the manufacturer has not filed a declaration for your exact model and configuration, the aircraft is not Category 2 no matter how light it feels. Check the manufacturer's compliance documentation and the FAA's published list before planning a shoot.
Category 3
Category 3 allows a higher energy threshold, again with a Declaration of Compliance, but attaches meaningfully tighter operating limits. A Category 3 aircraft may not sustain flight over open-air assemblies of people. Operations are confined to closed or restricted-access sites where those present have been notified, or to transiting people who are not gathered as a crowd.
In other words: Category 3 is for controlled sets and work sites, not for festivals, parades or stadium crowds.
Category 4
Category 4 is the professional tier. The aircraft must hold an airworthiness certificate issued by the FAA, be maintained according to the manufacturer's approved maintenance program, and have a maintenance record kept for it. Very few small drones have ever gone through that process, which is why Category 4 rarely appears in practice outside specialized operations.
| Category | Core requirement | DOC needed | Open-air assemblies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Under 0.55 lb, no lacerating parts | No | Allowed with Remote ID |
| 2 | Max 11 ft-lb impact energy | Yes | Allowed with Remote ID |
| 3 | Higher energy, restricted sites | Yes | No sustained flight |
| 4 | FAA airworthiness certificate | Certificate + maintenance program | Per certificate conditions |
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Open-air assemblies and Remote ID
The FAA has deliberately never published a headcount that defines an "open-air assembly". It is judged by the situation: density, whether people can disperse, and whether they are gathered for an event. A concert crowd, a parade route, a beach on the Fourth of July and a farmers market all plainly qualify; three people walking a sidewalk do not.
Critically, Remote ID is required for sustained flight over open-air assemblies. Standard Remote ID built into the aircraft, or an attached broadcast module, satisfies this — but note that a module adds weight, which can knock a marginal aircraft out of Category 1. Our Remote ID guide covers the three compliance routes and the weight trade-off in detail.
Stadiums are a separate prohibition
Operations over moving vehicles
Subpart D also addresses flight over moving vehicles, with parallel logic: Category 1 and 2 aircraft may operate over them subject to conditions, while Category 3 requires that the operation stay within a closed or restricted-access site, or that the drone not sustain flight over any moving vehicle. Treat a busy road as you would a crowd.
Before any flight near people
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Penalties and practical risk
FAA civil penalties in this area can reach roughly $75,000 depending on the conduct and consequences, and a careless or reckless operation under 107.23 can be charged alongside the Subpart D violation. Injuries invite civil litigation on top, where "the rule allowed it" is a much weaker argument than a well-documented plan and a conservative flight path.
Whatever category your aircraft falls into, the aircraft still has to be registered and marked. We handle the filing and deliver your certificate within 24 hours — or check first with the registration checker.