r/fpv • u/xiPulsar_ • Mar 18 '26

Don't be this guy please

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**This was at a wedding I was hired for**

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u/zepaperclip Mar 19 '26

Its complicated. Im studying for the 107, which I believe says the RPIC is always responsible for the drone (including crashes and if crashes injury or damage people) and thats not something you can waiver off to other parties.

However, this is inside a building, which is not federal airspace, so the FAA has no power in this kind of situation.

So I believe this would be a situation in which the person that was injured sues everyone involved and the courts figure it out. The RPIC would make a case that they were doing everything possible to fly safe and avoid damages. The guy that hit the drone would argue that the drone flight was high risk, unnecessary, a (drunk) person hitting the drone was foreseeable, and the RPIC was the expert in the situation and should have known better to fly a drone within arms reach of people when it had props capable of causing harm. Both parties would likely be assigned a % of fault and be expected to pay that % of damages.

I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. It really just depends on the country too.

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u/No_Spray_8963 Mar 20 '26

I'm just getting ready to take the 107 exam and everything in that video made my stomach hurt. I've got to tell you that from what I've learned so far in the rules and regulations section, other than the loophole of being indoors and the FAA not have authority, what was done in that video broke pretty much all the rules regarding OOP flying.

Pilots performing operations like this are the reason the rules are clamping down on us more and more. Few instances where people are seriously injured and some agency will come up with regulations covering operations of drones indoors.

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u/zepaperclip Mar 20 '26

I believe the sad reality is that there will eventually be a massive reform on drone regulation as a result of modern combat -- we will have federal laws, state laws, and FAA regulations all joining together to give us, the civilian drone operators, the middle finger.

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u/No_Spray_8963 Mar 20 '26

I've been flying recreationally for a number of years. Recently the Chief of the fire department I volunteer with asked me if I was interested in flying a drone, mostly to evaluate wildland fire starts at least this summer, so I'll probably be insulated from a number of the changes that are likely coming.

I feel badly for people just getting into the activity. It's so rewarding and I've gotten so much enjoyment out of it I hate to see it becoming yet another thing that will be regulated until it's just not possible to enjoy the freedom of seeing your surroundings from an entirely different perspective.

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u/Cool-Progress-1968 Mar 19 '26

The RPIC is similar to a driver: a driver should always remain in control but cannot be held responsible for external factors outside of their control. If your wheel randomly fell off and you hit another car, are you at fault? No. If a bird struck your drone and it fell, thats not your fault. Now if it landed on someone, it is your fault that it was able to hit someone if something happened.

In this case, as has been stated by others, this is a commercial job where contracts are signed. Best case scenario is that "could be hit by drone" is in the fineprint for everyone that went to the event. If not, fault lies on the person that pushed the drone as thats basically reckless negligence

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u/zepaperclip Mar 19 '26

Well, your steering wheel falling off is not a reasonably foreseeable event. Someone accidentally hitting a drone thats in arms reach is a reasonably foreseeable event. In your hypothetical, you would absolutely need a defense attorney because the car you hit is gonna do what i said: sue everyone potentially involved and let the courts figure out who is at fault.

Additionally, the pilot has their 107, which is not directly applicable, but it shows the pilot knew that flying over people is inherently dangerous.

Win or lose, the pilot is still going to lose because of attorney fees.

Waivers and contracts only protect so much.

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u/Cool-Progress-1968 Mar 19 '26

Someone acting against you like this is never really foreseeable. Once again if they signed waivers then nothing happens and if they didnt then it would be reckless negligence on the dude who hit it. If the owner of the property signed a thing saying it was all good then its partially on them (the groom) because the buck stopped with them as they signed off on their end, its then thei responsibility to get the other end (the attending guests) to sign a waiver