1. Make Sure You are Hiring A Certified Pilot
If you are hiring a drone pilot, it is essential to know that to fly a drone for compensation in the USA, you must hold a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) Airman Certificate issued by the FAA. Ask any potential drone pilots if they have their FAA Part 107 Certificate. If they are not certified, you could be opening yourself up to liability if something goes wrong.
2. Do They Carry Current Drone Insurance?
Make sure your drone pilot has specific drone liability insurance to protect both them and your company. If requested, any professional drone pilot should be able to provide you with proof of insurance before they start your job.
3. Valid FAA Certification Matters
Hobbyist drone pilots don’t need a certificate from the FAA. Still, if they fly to earn money or gain any financial benefit for themselves or others, they risk violating the law and may face fines and litigation.
4. Has the Drone Been Registered with the FAA?
Drone owners must register all drones with the FAA. To hold people accountable, the FAA requires them to complete the registration on its website. There are separate registrations for hobbyists and commercial unmanned aircraft.
5. Abiding by Drone Safety Rules
All pilots must follow these general safety rules: You must not fly higher than 400 feet, enter controlled airspace, hover over people, or fly at night unless you meet specific requirements. There are exceptions to the rules, and some require a special waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). You must also check to ensure you are not flying in controlled airspace. Note that the entire city of San Luis Obispo is in Class D airspace, so there are restrictions on where and how high you can fly without clearance.
Out With the Old, In With the New
DJI is the leading supplier of commercial and consumer drones, and they recently discontinued their geofencing controls, which in many ways served as the checks and balances for commercial drone pilots. Previously, if you entered controlled airspace like a no-fly zone, DJI would prevent your drone from taking off until you submitted proof of FAA clearance on their website. Now it’s all the pilot’s responsibility to check for FAA clearance in that area or not. It is now easier to fly in no-fly zones by mistake. This could leave the pilot and you open to liability if the pilot isn’t following the current regulations.
Bottom Line
You might be thinking, “I can’t get in trouble because I am not the one flying the drone.” Wrong! The U.S. Federal Law says,
49 USC 46306(b) says, “a person shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or both, if the person— . . . (8)knowingly and willfully employs for service or uses in any capacity as an airman an individual who does not have an airman’s certificate authorizing the individual to serve in that capacity[.]”
In a 2020 Florida case, Count Seven of the indictment said,
COUNT SEVEN
(Employing or Using an Airman without legitimate Airman Certificate)
Between on or about January 4, 2016, and continuing until on or about November 28, 2020, in the Middle District of Florida, and elsewhere, the defendant, DUC HANH Till VU, did knowingly and willfully employ for service or use in any capacity as an airman, HOWARD D. FARLEY, JR., who did not have a valid Private Pilot Airman’s Certificate in his name authorizing him to serve in that capacity, in that she used HOWARD D. FARLEY, JR. to operate aircraftN242TA in U.S. airspace, knowing his FAA airman certificate was fraudulently obtained in another person’s identity.
In violation of 49 U.S.C. § 46306(b)(8).
Learn and understand the law. It is legally your responsibility to know that the drone pilot you hire has the legal credentials. Before you hire a drone pilot for your next project, make sure to check not only their experience and price but also their license and insurance, so you avoid breaking the law and dealing with stressful lawsuits.
Dennis Swanson at Studio 101 West is fully certified by the FAA and insured as a commercial drone pilot with seven years of experience as a commercial pilot. For more info, check out our website.
Need more info on the law? We like this comprehensive article from a lawyer’s perspective: 5 Big Risks with Hiring Illegal Drone Pilots
