FilmLA has been made aware of changes from the FAA which affect all Part 107 operators of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, used for filming.
Of significant note is the expiration and elimination of all night operation waivers, as well as waivers for operating a UAS over people or moving vehicles.
In accordance with these changes, FilmLA will no longer request or accept waivers for night operations (§107.29), flight over people (§107.39) or flight over moving vehicles (§107.25). UAS operation under these conditions is now covered under the standard FAA test.
All operators must possess a current Airman Certificate dated on or after April 6, 2021 OR have passed a recurring knowledge test dated on or after April 6, 2021.
The FAA is providing a free online exam for those operators with older certificates at Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent (ALC-677) online training course.
For full details of the FAA’s policy changes, please review their Press Release.