How we fly safely and by the rules

Airspace: checked before every job

Near many airports the airspace is controlled, and FAA rules require authorization before a drone can fly there. Many requests go through the FAA’s LAANC system, which can often approve a flight within minutes, up to a set altitude. Others need a manual FAA review, either a “further coordination” request through LAANC (filed at least 72 hours ahead) or a request through FAA DroneZone. Manual reviews take longer and can be denied. Before we set a date, we confirm what authorization your site needs. Then we request it for the date and time we agree, before the flight.

Airspace can also close on short notice: the FAA issues temporary flight restrictions for wildfires, VIP visits and emergencies. Other restrictions are standing, such as the one around large stadiums during major games. Some places are off-limits without special permission, including certain military and security-sensitive sites and the Washington, DC, area. National parks generally prohibit drone takeoffs and landings.

That’s why we never promise a location can be flown until we’ve checked it, and why we check again on the day.

Remote ID: a digital license plate

Drones that must be registered with the FAA, including every drone used for commercial (Part 107) flights, must broadcast Remote ID while they fly. The main exception is inside FAA-recognized identification areas (FRIAs), small flying sites run by community organizations and schools. The signal shares the drone’s ID and location, plus the location of the pilot or the takeoff point. Anyone nearby with a compatible app can receive it, but only the FAA and authorized law enforcement can link it to the owner’s registration. It’s one of the ways the FAA keeps drone flights accountable.

People on the ground

FAA rules allow flying over people who aren’t directly participating in the operation only with aircraft that meet specific FAA categories (some of them only on a closed site where everyone has been told about the drone), or under an FAA waiver. Flying over crowds is restricted even further, and similar limits apply to moving vehicles. We don’t assume either route. On job sites, events and busy properties we plan flight paths around people rather than over them, coordinate with site contacts and choose angles that get the shot from the side.

Privacy and your neighbors

The FAA regulates flight safety, not privacy. Privacy is covered by state and local law, which varies. We follow the key practices in the voluntary privacy best practices for drone operators published by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). In practice, that means we:

• frame shots on the property we’ve been hired to photograph
• avoid lingering over neighboring homes, and don’t aim cameras into neighbors’ windows or yards
• avoid capturing identifiable people, and blur or remove them before we publish anything
• suggest a heads-up to neighbors when it makes sense
• take off and land only where the owner, venue or park allows
• keep project files only as long as needed, and share them only with you and the people you ask us to
• explain in our Privacy policy what aerial imagery we keep, why, for how long and who receives it

Privacy questions or requests to delete images can go to drew@drewsdrone.services. See our Privacy policy for how we handle aerial imagery and website data.

Insurance

Federal rules don’t require drone insurance, though some states, and many clients, venues, contractors and permit offices, do. If your project needs a certificate of insurance, tell us in your quote request, and we’ll tell you before booking whether we can meet it.