Safety is always at the top of the list when flying.
This is right off theFAA (UAV or UAS) page.
FAA Safety Guidelines
Individuals flying for hobby or recreation are strongly encouraged to follow safety guidelines, which include:
- Fly at or below 400 feet and stay away from surrounding obstacles
- Keep your UAS within sight
- Never fly near other aircraft, especially near airports
- Never fly over groups of people
- Never fly over stadiums or sports events
- Never fly near emergency response efforts such as fires
- Never fly under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Understand airspace restrictions and requirements
In Simple Terms
You must fly no higher than 400ft from where you took off. And you must stay at least 100ft from any buildings or obstacles. Hopefully, you drone provides you your elevation (from takeoff). In reality, unless you have a rather large drone, you may find your drone hard to see even at 200 ft. Which is the second rule. Keep your drone in sight, this is call Visual Line of Sight or VLOS. Be cautions when you fly towards obstacles, such as trees, as even at very short distances your drone can easily become camouflaged into the backdrop. That is why most drones have blinking lights, as it provides an added way to spot.
Never, and the FAA means never, fly over people. This includes weddings, family outages, days at the park. Do not fly over people. Even if they are all your family and say it is OK. The only way this can be done is if you are a certified 107 Pilot and have requested and been approved an exemption. So, if you think because you are a hobby or recreational flyer, the rule doesn’t pertain to you, you are wrong.
As with flying over people, that would explain the next rule, no stadiums or sport events. The next rule is often ignored for the chance of a lifetime. And that is flying around accidents, emergencies or fires where emergency, police, first re-sponders, search and rescue personnel are around. Remember, you can’t fly over people, so stay away. And secondly, your aircraft could very well impede on the operation at the seem and cause additional damage while lessening the safety of the scene.
Just as with anything else, flying under the influence is a sure way to become the problem, not the solution. Be Smart, Be Safe.
And lastly, to understand better airspace and requirements. The more you know the safer you can fly.
Again, this is for hobby or recreational flying. If you are doing anything MORE than that, you should review and understand the Summary 107 Regulations
