![]() ![]() Why is the medical certificate not a requirement? However, we can adopt guidelines from various community-based organizations to lessen the ambiguity of this rule. The rule makes no explicit mention of any physical or mental conditions, which could be considered as incapacitating for a drone pilot. Second, the ultimate qualifier of whether a person is fit to fly a drone is whether they can do it in a SAFE manner. A person who is in no condition to fly a drone is also assumed to be in no condition to act as support crew, even as a visual observer or an assistant remote pilot-in-command. The rule is quite general, but there two parts to take note of. “No person may manipulate the flight controls of a small unmanned aircraft system or act as a remote pilot in command, visual observer, or direct participant in the operation of the small unmanned aircraft if he or she knows or has reason to know that he or she has a physical or mental condition that would interfere with the safe operation of the small unmanned aircraft system.” Regarding the state of health of the remote pilot, Section 107.17 states: Why the huge difference? Let’s start looking for the FAA’s justification by looking at the Part 107 rules. This rule is in stark contrast to the requirement for a valid airman medical certificate to exercise the privileges of a student pilot certificate, recreational pilot certificate, private pilot certificate, commercial pilot certificate, or airline pilot certificate. Instead, the FAA expects drone pilots to do a self-assessment each time they fly their drones to determine if they are in the proper physical and mental condition. Naturally, there is no such requirement as well for recreational drone pilots. The Part 107 rules do not require any medical certificate for an applicant before they can be granted a Part 107 remote pilot certificate. If the physical and mental condition of the drone pilot is so important, does this also mean that a drone pilot needs to have a medical certificate on hand? In the absence of a medical certificate, what is the minimum level of mental and physical fitness that the FAA expects of drone pilots? Do drone pilots need a medical certificate to fly professionally or recreationally? After all, drone pilots need to have a keen sense of awareness of their surroundings and must be able to react quickly enough to avoid untoward incidents. Much like putting a blind man in the driver’s seat of a car, it’s easy to imagine the danger of allowing a person with certain physical and mental deficiencies to fly a drone. ![]() Instead, the FAA relies on drone pilots to do a self-assessment on their physical and mental conditions, and to determine if they are fit enough to fly a drone according to a few guidelines. ![]() No, drone pilots do not need any sort of medical certificate. ![]()
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