Midway through a commercial rooftop inspection flight, the remote pilot's ground station displays a low battery warning with an estimated 4 minutes of flight time remaining. The inspection has 6 minutes of work left. What should the pilot do?

Why →Battery management is a pre-flight and in-flight safety responsibility under § 107.49. A 4-minute warning with 6 minutes of work remaining is a clear go/no-go signal. Battery estimates can be optimistic under load, wind, or cold conditions. Running a LiPo to depletion risks an uncontrolled descent with no ability to steer to a safe landing zone. The correct action is to land with margin remaining, not to push the battery.

The trap →Continuing relies on optimism rather than data: battery estimates run optimistic under real-world load, so actual remaining time may be less than displayed. Reducing throttle does not eliminate the shortfall; it just moves the depleted-battery moment somewhere over the structure.

Field note →A practical rule: the 30% rule. Land when battery reaches 30% charge. What looks like comfortable margin at 20% evaporates fast under wind load or aggressive maneuvering.