Flying a drone over people
Understand how overflight of uninvolved people and assemblies is treated in different regulatory frameworks.
What this means
Overflight of people is one of the most tightly controlled areas of drone regulation, because the risk is directly related to what is underneath the aircraft.
Frameworks solve this differently: some use aircraft categories and class marks, others use operational categories, mitigations or specific certification.
Why jurisdiction matters
The same aircraft can be permitted over people in one framework and prohibited in another, depending on class marking, weight, safety features and the type of gathering below.
EU / EASA states
Open category subcategories and aircraft class marks determine how close to, or over, uninvolved people an operation may take place. Assemblies of people receive stricter treatment.
United Kingdom
UK rules combine the retained category structure with separation requirements from uninvolved people.
United States
Part 107 sets out categories of operation over people, based on aircraft characteristics and safety conditions.
Questions Drone Assistant can answer
This question, answered per jurisdiction
Each page answers this question from the published rules of that jurisdiction, with the rule behind every claim. Jurisdictions appear only where the corpus can answer it.
Supported frameworks
Built around official regulatory sources
- Official sources
- Regulation-level citations
- Coverage and freshness checks
- Location-aware data where available
Related
Ask about flying over people
Pick a country and ask your specific question. The answer comes from official regulatory sources, with the rule behind each claim.
This page gives general regulatory information. It is not flight clearance, operational authorisation or legal advice, and it does not guarantee that a flight is legal. See sources and methodology and terms.