Category: Compliance

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Building a UAS Operations Manual: Why Every Part 107 Pilot Needs One

The FAA doesn’t require most Part 107 operators to maintain a formal operations manual. That’s the wrong reason not to have one.

A UAS operations manual is three things simultaneously: your operational bible (the definitive reference for how your operation works), your legal protection (documented evidence that you operate to defined standards), and your credibility document (what enterprise clients and insurers ask for before they’ll hire or cover you).

Here’s what a professional UAS operations manual contains and why each section matters.

Organizational Information

Who operates this UAS program. Contact information. Certificate numbers for all pilots. Your operating entity if separate from your personal certificate. Emergency contacts.

This section exists so that anyone — a client, an insurer, a responding authority — can quickly identify who is responsible for the operation and how to reach them.

Aircraft Inventory and Configuration

Every aircraft you operate should be documented: make, model, serial number, FAA registration number, payloads, maximum takeoff weight, operating limitations, and maintenance history reference. Configuration changes — adding a new payload, replacing a flight controller — should be logged.

This documentation is what your insurer uses when you file a claim and what the FAA reviews if your aircraft is involved in an incident.

Standard Operating Procedures

This is the heart of the manual. SOPs define how every type of operation your company conducts is performed — step by step, to the same standard, every time.

At minimum, SOPs should cover:

  • Pre-flight inspection procedure
  • Site survey procedure
  • Launch and recovery procedure
  • In-flight monitoring protocol
  • Abort criteria and emergency procedures
  • Post-flight documentation procedure
  • Battery management and storage
  • Equipment maintenance schedule

SOPs are living documents. When you encounter a situation your SOP didn’t cover, you update the SOP. When you find a better way to do something, you update the SOP. The manual reflects your current best practice, always.

Emergency Procedures

What happens when the link fails? When the aircraft starts to fly-away? When there’s a medical emergency on site? When the aircraft goes into a water obstacle? When there’s an airspace intrusion?

Emergency procedures must be defined in advance, briefed before every operation, and practiced. The time to figure out what you’d do in a fly-away scenario is not during a fly-away.

Crew Roles and Responsibilities

Define every position in your operation: Remote Pilot in Command, Visual Observer, Crew Coordinator, Ground Safety Officer. Who has authority to call a stop. How communication flows. What each person monitors and reports.

For solo operators, this section may seem unnecessary — but when you add a second person to any operation, undefined roles are a safety hazard.

Airspace Authorization Procedures

How does your operation obtain, document, and manage airspace authorizations? What’s the process for LAANC requests? For COA applications? For TFR checks? This section should reference your specific tools and workflows.

Incident and Accident Response

Exactly what to do, in what order, if something goes wrong. NTSB reporting thresholds and timeline. Insurer notification procedure. Client notification procedure. Documentation requirements. Evidence preservation.

How FlightDeck Supports Your Operations Manual

FlightDeck operationalizes your SOPs by providing the structured data capture, airspace analysis, and documentation tools that your manual describes. Your pre-flight checklist procedure references FlightDeck’s logging workflow. Your airspace authorization SOP references the Airspace Checker and LAANC Tracker. Your post-flight documentation SOP references the flight record and report generation.

The manual defines the standard. FlightDeck executes it.

FlightDeck’s Compliance Manager also generates FAA-compliant COA application narrative content — the Operations Description, CONOPS, Emergency Procedures, and waiver guidance sections that form the core of a nationwide blanket COA application. Much of that content can be adapted directly into your operations manual.

Download the free 30-day trial and start building the operational infrastructure that makes your UAS business enterprise-ready.

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UAS Incident Reporting: What to Do When Something Goes Wrong

No commercial UAS pilot plans for an incident. But the ones who’ve thought through exactly what to do before one happens are the ones who handle them professionally when they occur — protecting themselves legally, maintaining client confidence, and contributing to the industry’s safety record.

Here’s what you need to know about UAS incident reporting as a commercial Part 107 operator.

What Triggers a Reporting Requirement

Under 49 CFR §830, the NTSB requires notification when a UAS operation results in:

  • Serious injury to any person (hospitalization required)
  • Loss of consciousness of any person
  • Property damage exceeding $500 (to property other than the aircraft itself)

Additionally, the FAA can request information and records from certificate holders at any time. Under Part 107, you’re required to make your aircraft available for inspection and to cooperate with FAA investigations.

Many incidents that don’t trigger mandatory NTSB reporting are still worth documenting formally — airspace deviations, close calls with manned aircraft, equipment malfunctions, or any operation that didn’t go as planned.

Immediate Response: The First 60 Minutes

Secure the scene. If the aircraft is down in a manner that poses ongoing risk — near people, traffic, or energized lines — manage that hazard first before doing anything else.

Document everything before it changes. Photograph the aircraft position, any damaged property, the launch and landing zone, and your equipment setup. Video the scene. Note the time, GPS coordinates, weather conditions, and who was present. Do this before anything is moved or removed.

Preserve flight data. Don’t clear logs. Don’t reset the aircraft. The flight controller log, video footage, and any telemetry data may be relevant to the investigation. Preserve it.

Notify your insurer. Most commercial UAS policies require prompt notification of potential claims. Don’t wait to see if a claim materializes — notify early.

Do not make admissions. Speak factually about what happened. Don’t speculate about cause or accept liability before facts are established. This applies in conversation with clients, bystanders, and especially with any responding authority.

NTSB Reporting Process

If the incident meets the reporting threshold, notify the NTSB as soon as practicable and no later than two days after the accident. Notification can be made through the NTSB’s online reporting form or by phone. A full written report may be required within 10 days.

Keep a copy of everything submitted. If the FAA opens a parallel investigation, your documentation and the timeline of your actions matter.

The Professional Response to Non-Reportable Incidents

For incidents that don’t trigger mandatory reporting — a hard landing, a minor equipment malfunction, an airspace confusion — the professional response is still documentation and analysis.

Write an internal incident report: what happened, what the chain of events was, what the contributing factors were, and what procedural or equipment changes you’re making in response. File it. Reference it in future planning.

Pilots who document and learn from their close calls have far fewer of them over time. The ones who don’t tend to repeat the same errors until one of them becomes a reportable event.

Maintaining the Record

Your operational history — the complete record of flights, conditions, authorizations, and incidents — is your professional evidence file. FlightDeck’s SQL-backed flight logging captures 87+ data points per mission in a local database that’s always there when you need it.

When an insurer, a client, or the FAA asks what happened and when, you pull a report. You don’t reconstruct from memory.

Download the free 30-day trial and start building the operational record that protects you when something doesn’t go according to plan.

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LAANC Authorization: A Complete Guide for Part 107 Commercial Pilots

LAANC — the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability — transformed airspace authorization for commercial UAS pilots when it launched. What used to require weeks of manual coordination with FAA facilities now happens in seconds through an app. But LAANC has limits that many pilots don’t fully understand, and those limits become operationally significant at scale.

Here’s a complete guide to LAANC for commercial Part 107 operators: how it works, when it’s enough, when it isn’t, and how to manage authorizations across a large site portfolio.

How LAANC Works

LAANC operates through FAA-approved UAS Service Suppliers (USS) — apps like Aloft (formerly Kittyhawk), AirMap, and others. The system works by dividing controlled airspace into a grid of UAS Facility Map (UASFM) cells, each with an assigned altitude ceiling. These ceilings represent the maximum altitude at which the FAA has determined that drone operations can be safely accommodated without posing risk to manned aircraft at that location.

When you request a LAANC authorization in an app, the system checks your proposed altitude against the UASFM ceiling for your grid cell. If your altitude is at or below the ceiling, authorization is typically instantaneous. If you need to fly above the ceiling — even by one foot — you cannot use LAANC and must apply through FAADroneZone.

When LAANC Is Sufficient

LAANC works well for:

  • Operations in Class B, C, D, or E surface airspace at or below the published UASFM ceiling for your grid
  • Operations where altitudes are moderate and the site is away from airport runways and approach paths
  • Time-sensitive operations where waiting days for a COA is not practical
  • Sites with ceilings of 100–400 ft — the sweet spot for most commercial inspection and data collection work

When LAANC Is Not Sufficient

LAANC cannot be used when:

  • Your required altitude exceeds the UASFM ceiling for the grid cell — common near major airports where many cells show 0 ft ceilings
  • The site is in a zero-ceiling grid requiring manual FAADroneZone COA coordination
  • You need to fly above 400 ft AGL for any reason (requires a §107.51 waiver)
  • The operation is in Class B airspace in a zero-grid area near a major hub
  • The operation involves special circumstances not covered by LAANC’s automated approval scope

For communications tower inspection specifically — a primary market for commercial UAS operators — towers frequently require flight above the LAANC ceiling to reach the top of the structure. This is where the manual COA and altitude waiver process becomes essential, and where having pre-prepared COA narrative documentation saves significant time.

Managing LAANC Authorizations at Scale

Managing LAANC for a single site is easy. Managing it across 50, 100, or 300 sites on an active project is a different challenge entirely. Authorization windows expire. Primary authorizations get denied. Backup authorizations sit unused while you’re chasing a manual re-approval. Sites move dates. New sites get added mid-project.

FlightDeck’s LAANC Tracker was built specifically for this problem. Every controlled-airspace site in your project gets a tracker entry with a primary and backup LAANC reference number. When you export your authorization CSV from Aloft, FlightDeck reads it automatically — matching reference numbers to sites, writing authorization metadata, updating forecast dates, and applying color-coded status indicators.

The standout feature: when a primary authorization is denied or deauthorized, FlightDeck automatically promotes the backup reference number and re-runs the import. No manual intervention. No missed windows while you’re in the field.

Documenting Your Authorizations

Your LAANC reference number is your legal authorization to fly in controlled airspace. Carry it. Log it. Keep it associated with the mission record. If the FAA asks whether you were authorized — and they can ask — a reference number in a structured flight record is a professional answer. “I think I got a LAANC, I’d have to check the app” is not.

FlightDeck writes your authorization reference directly to the mission record alongside your flight data, weather, and site details. It’s all in one place, in a local database you control.

Download the free 30-day trial and manage your LAANC authorizations the way professionals do — systematically, at scale, with automatic backup promotion when approvals fail.

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Part 107 Renewal Is Coming — Is Your Operational History Ready?

Part 107 recurrent training and knowledge testing requirements mean that staying current as a commercial drone pilot is an ongoing obligation — not a one-time event. And while the FAA doesn’t currently require you to submit flight logs at renewal, your operational history matters more than pilots often realize.

Why Your Flight History Matters at Renewal

Your flight records tell the story of your professional development. When you’re bidding on contracts with larger clients, responding to RFPs from enterprise accounts, or applying for waivers that require demonstrated operational experience, your documented flight history is your evidence.

“I’ve been flying professionally for five years” is a statement. A structured record of 400+ logged commercial missions is proof.

Waiver Applications and Operational Records

Many Part 107 waivers — beyond visual line of sight, operations over people, night operations — require applicants to demonstrate relevant operational experience. The FAA’s waiver application process asks you to describe your mitigations and experience. Pilots with clean, detailed operational records are better positioned to make that case.

What to Have Organized Before Your Knowledge Test

Use your recurrency period as a trigger to audit your records:

  • Are all past missions logged with complete data?
  • Are your airspace authorizations filed and accessible?
  • Are your aircraft maintenance and inspection records current?
  • Is your certificate information and medical (if applicable) up to date?

The Difference Between Pilots Who Scale and Those Who Don’t

The commercial UAS operators who grow their businesses from solo gigs into real operations share a common trait: they treat record-keeping as a core function, not an afterthought. Clean records enable audits, support insurance claims, back up waiver applications, and signal professionalism to enterprise clients.

FlightDeck was built for exactly this — structured, local, field-ready flight operations management. Try it free for 30 days.

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The Real Cost of Disorganized UAS Flight Records (And How to Fix It)

Ask most solo commercial drone pilots how they manage their flight records and you’ll get a familiar answer: a spreadsheet, a folder of PDFs, maybe a notebook from the field. It works — until it doesn’t.

Here’s when disorganized flight records actually cost you.

The Client Audit

A client calls. They want documentation of every flight you conducted on their property over the past two years — locations, dates, weather conditions, crew, equipment serial numbers. How long does it take you to produce that?

If the answer is “more than an hour,” you have a records problem.

Professional clients — utilities, construction companies, insurance firms — increasingly require detailed operational records as a condition of hiring UAS contractors. If you can’t produce clean documentation quickly, you lose the contract. Or you keep it and spend a weekend reconstructing logs from memory.

The Insurance Claim

An incident happens. Your insurer wants a complete operational record: the preflight checklist, the flight time, the conditions, who was on site. Gaps in your records don’t just slow down the claim — they can affect coverage.

The FAA Inquiry

Under 14 CFR Part 107, you’re required to make your aircraft available for inspection and to provide records upon FAA request. Having a clean, organized record of your operations isn’t just good practice — it’s a regulatory obligation.

What Good UAS Flight Records Look Like

A properly maintained flight record for each mission should capture:

  • Date, time, and duration
  • Location (GPS coordinates, not just a description)
  • Aircraft make, model, and serial number
  • Pilot in command name and certificate number
  • Crew and visual observer information if applicable
  • Weather conditions at time of flight
  • Airspace authorization reference (LAANC or waiver number)
  • Preflight inspection completion
  • Any incidents or anomalies
  • Post-flight notes

That’s a lot of data to manage in a spreadsheet. It’s nothing for purpose-built software.

Moving to Structured Flight Logging

The shift from ad-hoc record keeping to structured flight logging is one of the highest-leverage improvements a solo commercial operator can make. You do the same work — you just capture it in a system that makes it retrievable, reportable, and professional.

FlightDeck stores all of this in a local SQL database. You log the mission, the data is structured, and when a client or auditor asks for records, you pull a report instead of digging through folders.

Download the free 30-day trial and log your next mission in FlightDeck.