Over 98% of the land in the United States does not require any authorization to fly a drone up to 400’ above ground level; however, there are still major portions of US cities that are in controlled airspace.
Thankfully, over the past few years, the FAA has considerably loosened their airspace restrictions, while also making it much easier and faster to get one-off airspace authorizations for project sites near, or even on airports themselves.
Of the 15,000 airports in the US, fewer than 900 are in controlled airspace that requires authorization. Moreover, of those, 600 airports participate in the FAA’s LAANC program. LAANC is the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability; it provides access to controlled airspace near airports through near real-time processing of airspace authorizations below approved altitudes in controlled airspace. Non-participating airports can still grant authorization through a manual filing if needed.
So in almost all cases, the answer is “yes” it’s legal to fly there, and it is much easier to get approval than it was even one year ago.
What is an airspace authorization?
An airspace authorization, is asking permission to fly in controlled airspace in adherence to all part 107 rules and specific altitude parameters. This is NOT the same as a waiver, waivers are explained here.
How do I know if I need an to submit an airspace authorization request?
The FAA’s “Visualize it: See FAA UAS Data on a Map” website, provides a visual representation of all the areas you need to obtain authorization in before flying. A screen shot of this website is provided below.
