NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System
Part 107 UAS pilot reported flying over people and was not sure if it was compliant with Part 107.
What is ASRS?
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.
Pilot narrative
Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the
reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time);
anonymization placeholders are ZZZ,
X, Y.
While creating a video of a group of people who were posing for the video, I transitioned the drone over 3 or 4 members of the group. This was done to create a pull-back reveal shot, starting from an open space encircled by the people and transitioning to a location outside the group. My understanding that sustained flight over people is not allowed but transitioning over is allowed. After a couple days I began questioning my understanding of "transitioning". After re-reading the relevant part 107 operations, I have some uncertainty over whether my actions may have constituted a deviation from the rules of part 107.
Analyst callback
ASRS analysts occasionally follow up with reporters by phone. These are the paraphrased additional notes from those conversations.
Reporter had no additional information to share.
NASA classification — Anomalies
- Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural
NASA classification — Assessments
- Contributing Factors / Situations
- Chart Or Publication · Human Factors
- Primary Problem
- Ambiguous
ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.