107part107drill
← the bank
⚖ Regulations · § 107.200; § 107.205REG-042 · 39 of 261

A remote pilot wants to operate a drone at night BVLOS for a pipeline inspection. Which FAA mechanism is required, and what cannot be waived?

AA § 107.200 waiver is required to deviate from the VLOS rule; requirements like minimum age (§ 107.61) and physical/mental condition (§ 107.17) cannot be waived✓
BLAANC authorization is sufficient because it covers both airspace and VLOS deviations
CNo authorization is required because night operations are allowed under Part 107 as of April 2021

Why →Night operations no longer require a waiver under § 107.29 (since April 2021). But BVLOS deviates from § 107.31, which still requires a § 107.200 Certificate of Waiver. The FAA evaluates the proposed means of maintaining safety equivalent to VLOS. Certain Part 107 requirements (registration, accident reporting, age, mental/physical condition) cannot be waived.

The trap →The LAANC option conflates LAANC (airspace-only) with waivers (rule deviations). The "no authorization required" option gets the night-ops rule right but forgets that VLOS is a separate rule that still requires a waiver.

Field note →§ 107.205 lists the rules that can be waived. If your operation needs a rule that is not on that list to be bent, the answer is not a waiver; it is a different operational category entirely.

SOURCE → 14 CFR § 107.200; § 107.205CHECKED JUL 16ACS I.B.K4MED
▶  Try it in a drillall regulations questions →browse all 261 →report an issue
← REG-041REG-043 →