Emergency procedures, crew resource management, radio communication procedures, physiological effects of drugs and alcohol, aeronautical decision-making and judgment, airport operations, maintenance and preflight inspection procedures, and operation at night
Emergency Procedures
The one rule that bends
Section 107.21 permits the remote pilot in command to deviate from any Part 107 rule to the extent necessary to meet an in-flight emergency - and no further. It does not license careless or reckless operation, and it does not excuse poor planning. The safest emergencies are rehearsed on the ground: know your aircraft's programmed lost-link behavior (hover, land, or return-to-home), verify the return altitude clears obstacles and stays clear of restricted airspace, and know how to select a manual or attitude mode if GPS degrades.
Common failures and responses
Loss of link or GPS: let the failsafe work, or take manual control if you can. Battery warnings: land immediately at the nearest safe spot rather than stretching for a better landing zone. Loss of visual line of sight: climb or reposition until you regain sight, then land. Fly-away: execute the lost-link procedure, record the last known position, and notify the local FSDO and, if manned traffic is affected, ATC. Structural failure or fire: put the aircraft down away from people.
Crew and bystander factors
Brief everyone before launch on who calls an abort, what "land now" sounds like, and where the emergency landing areas are. Keep the aircraft over unpopulated ground when possible so an emergency descent has somewhere to go.
Traps
The exam likes "the PIC may violate any rule during an emergency" - no, only to the extent necessary. Another favorite is a return-to-home altitude set below a tower or inside a TFR.
Rule of thumb
Aviate first: when in doubt, land, then investigate.
Crew Resource Management
Who is who
The crew includes the remote pilot in command, a visual observer when one is used or required by waiver, and the person manipulating the controls. Ultimate authority and responsibility never leave the PIC, even when another person is flying or a visual observer is spotting traffic. If someone else manipulates the controls, the PIC must be able to take control immediately, and the VO must be free of other duties so the only job is scanning the airspace and warning about conflicting traffic. A VO is not automatically required - you need one when a waiver says so or when workload and sightlines demand it.
Making the crew work
Effective CRM is mostly communication discipline. Brief before flight: roles, call-outs, the lost-link plan, abort criteria, and the phrase for an immediate landing. Use closed-loop communication - the receiver repeats the instruction back. Keep a sterile period during takeoff, recovery, and any conflict with manned traffic. Watch for the universal failure modes: task saturation, distraction, complacency, and reluctance to speak up to the PIC.
Worked example
A two-person crew is shooting a roof inspection near a highway. The PIC files, the VO scans. When the VO sees a helicopter approaching, the pre-briefed call "traffic, north, low" tells the PIC to descend and hold without further discussion.
Traps
Questions suggest the VO can double as photographer, or that the PIC's authority transfers along with the controller. Neither is true.
Rule of thumb
Brief three things out loud before every flight: who does what, what we say, and when we abort.
Radio Communication Procedures
Radio is optional; communication is not
Part 107 does not require a radio, but a radio is a cheap way to build situational awareness, especially near non-towered airports. On the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) you self-announce; MULTICOM 122.9 serves airports without an assigned frequency; UNICOM is often the FBO or fuel operator. Weather comes from AWOS/ASOS and ATIS. The emergency and guard frequency is 121.5. When you transmit, use the standard order: who you are, where you are, what you intend - for example, "Podunk traffic, drone one, two miles south at four hundred feet, orbiting, Podunk traffic." Position reports are most useful when entering or leaving an area and whenever you change altitude or location sharply.
What radio cannot do
A radio call does not grant Class B, C, D, or Class E surface area authorization - that comes from LAANC or DroneZone, in writing, in advance. A radio also does not confer right of way: manned aircraft keep it, always. Transmit briefly, listen more than you talk, and never read back instructions you are not authorized to accept.
Traps
"Roger" acknowledges receipt; "wilco" means you will comply; "mayday" is distress and "pan-pan" is urgency. Some items imply that a CTAF self-announcement substitutes for an ATC authorization - it does not.
Rule of thumb
Three Ws on every transmission - Who you are, Where you are, What you want - then get off the frequency.
Physiological Effects of Drugs and Alcohol
The regulatory floor
Section 107.27 pulls in the alcohol and drug rules of §91.17. No crew member may act within 8 hours of consuming alcohol, while under the influence, while having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04 percent or greater, or while using any drug that affects faculties in a way contrary to safety. That covers the PIC, the visual observer, and anyone manipulating the controls. These are independent prohibitions: the 8-hour bottle-to-throttle interval is a minimum, not a shield. You can be violated at 10 hours if you are still impaired.
Drugs, including legal ones
Prescription and over-the-counter medications count. Antihistamines, sleep aids, muscle relaxants, and many cold remedies cause drowsiness or slow reaction time, and flying while taking them is a violation if they affect your faculties. Marijuana remains a federally prohibited Schedule I drug regardless of state law, and CBD products are unregulated in purity, so treat them as disqualifying. If you have a question about a medication, ask an aviation medical examiner. Refusing to submit to a chemical test when requested carries certificate consequences.
Fitness for flight
Illness, fatigue, dehydration, and stress degrade judgment as surely as alcohol does. Part 107 expects the remote pilot to self-certify fitness for every flight.
Traps
Items suggest 0.04 is safe up to 0.079, or that a prescription makes impairment acceptable. Neither is true.
Rule of thumb
Eight hours, 0.04, and no impairing drug - and if you have to ask, you are grounded.
Aeronautical Decision-Making and Judgment
Structured decision-making
Aeronautical decision-making keeps the pilot ahead of the aircraft. PAVE frames four risk areas: Pilot (fatigue, illness, currency), Aircraft (battery state, firmware, propellers, payload), enVironment (weather, airspace, terrain, crowds, lighting), and External pressures (client demands, deadlines, the urge for one more flight). IMSAFE checks the pilot specifically: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion. The DECIDE model - Detect a change, Estimate its effect, Choose a response, Identify the best action, Do it, Evaluate the result - gives you a loop to run continuously.
Hazardous attitudes
The classic five are anti-authority ("the rules do not apply to me"), impulsivity ("do something now"), invulnerability ("it will not happen to me"), macho ("watch this"), and resignation ("nothing I do matters"). The antidotes, in order: follow the rules, think first, it could happen to me, taking chances is foolish, and I am not helpless. Part 107 makes the PIC responsible for assessing risk and declining any flight that cannot be done safely.
Worked example
A client wants real estate shots at noon in July near a Class D airport. PAVE: the pilot flew until midnight (Pilot), batteries are old (Aircraft), density altitude is high and the airport needs authorization (enVironment), and the client is pushing (External). Decision: schedule for 0800, replace the pack, confirm LAANC, and brief the client on the change.
Traps
Questions test whether you can name the specific hazardous attitude in a scenario, not just say "bad judgment."
Rule of thumb
Run PAVE before launch and DECIDE in the air; both are cheap insurance.
Airport Operations
Airport layout and markings
Runway numbers are the magnetic heading divided by ten, so runway 18 points roughly south and runway 27 points west. The standard traffic pattern is left-hand, with entry at a 45-degree angle to midfield downwind at pattern altitude, typically about 1,000 ft AGL. The segmented circle and wind cone indicate the active runway and current wind. Taxiways are lettered, hold-short lines mark runway boundaries, and a rotating beacon identifies a lighted airport at night. Wake turbulence from heavy aircraft sinks and lingers - never fly behind or below a departing heavy.
Flying near an airport under Part 107
Section 107.43 forbids interfering with airport operations or traffic patterns. Small UAS always give way to manned aircraft, including gliders and helicopters that may be quieter and harder to see. At a non-towered field in Class G airspace no ATC authorization is required, but you should still monitor or self-announce on CTAF, stay clear of the pattern, and keep the aircraft below and away from approach corridors. Where the airport sits in Class B, C, D, or Class E surface area, obtain authorization first.
Traps
Questions suggest a drone in Class G has right of way over a landing Cessna, or that "runway 9" means 90 feet. Neither is true. Another favorite: assuming pattern altitude is the same as your 400-foot limit.
Rule of thumb
At any airport - towered or not - assume manned traffic is coming and give way: scan, listen, and stay out of the pattern.
Maintenance and Preflight Inspection Procedures
Preflight is a regulation, not a habit
Section 107.49 requires the remote pilot to assess the operating environment, aircraft performance, and weight and balance, and to inspect the aircraft before each flight. That inspection covers props and rotors for nicks, cracks, and balance; motor mounts and bearings; airframe and landing gear; control surfaces and linkages; battery state of charge, swelling, or damage; gimbal and payload attachments; antennas and the command-and-control link; GPS and compass status; and firmware versions. Section 107.15 prohibits launching an aircraft that is not in a condition for safe operation.
Maintenance practice
Follow the manufacturer's maintenance schedule and inspection intervals - the FAA does not prescribe a separate schedule for small UAS. Replace damaged props rather than repairing them, use manufacturer-approved parts, log discrepancies and corrective actions, and keep those records. Battery care is maintenance: store at the recommended storage voltage, keep packs out of hot vehicles, never charge a puffy or punctured pack, and retire packs that sag under load.
Preflight planning
Before launch, check weather, TFRs and NOTAMs, airspace and LAANC, registration and certificate availability, site hazards, people and property below, and the emergency and lost-link plan. Then walk around the aircraft.
Traps
Items claim the FAA requires an annual inspection, or that one preflight in the morning covers every flight that day. Neither is accurate - the preflight precedes each flight.
Rule of thumb
Five P's before launch: paperwork, planning, power (batteries), props, and payload security.
Operation at Night
The rule for night
Part 107 defines night as the period between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, converted to local time - not simply sunset to sunrise. Night operations are permitted without a waiver when the aircraft carries anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles and the remote pilot has completed the required night training or knowledge testing. All other limits still apply: 3 SM visibility, 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally from clouds, and visual line of sight maintained with unaided vision.
Seeing at night
Night vision relies on rods, which adapt slowly - allow about 30 minutes in darkness, and expect one bright light to ruin it. Use off-center viewing to detect dim objects, and watch for illusions such as autokinesis (a stationary light appearing to move) and the black-hole effect on approach. Carry a flashlight with a red or dim setting for the control station, keep the aircraft's lights in view, and add a visual observer, because spotting a small aircraft against a dark sky is difficult.
Airport lighting
Runway edge lights are white, turning yellow on the last portion of some runways; threshold lights are green; taxiway lights are blue; obstacles are red. On a VASI or PAPI, red over white puts you on the glidepath, white over white is high, and red over red is low.
Traps
Items substitute "after sunset" for the Part 107 definition, or omit the 3 SM light-visibility requirement. Another common distractor is that position lights, not anti-collision lights, are the requirement.
Rule of thumb
Night flying is a lighting, crew, and site-selection problem: check the lights, add the observer, and pick a well-lit landing zone before launch.