Rules
Part 107 moving vehicles, hazardous materials and dropping objects
You may not operate a small drone from a moving aircraft, and from a moving land or water vehicle only over a sparsely populated area while not carrying another person's property for pay (107.25). A small drone may not carry hazardous material (107.36), and no object may be dropped in a way that creates an undue hazard (107.23).
What does 107.25 say about moving vehicles?
The rule: no person may operate a small unmanned aircraft system (a) from a moving aircraft, or (b) from a moving land or water-borne vehicle unless the small unmanned aircraft is flown over a sparsely populated area and is not transporting another person's property for compensation or hire.
Read it as a two-step test. Paragraph (a) is absolute for aircraft: if the control station is in a moving aircraft, the rule forbids the operation. Paragraph (b) allows a moving car or boat as the control station only when both conditions hold at once: the area is sparsely populated, and the drone is not carrying someone else's property for pay. The section does not define "sparsely populated" itself, which is why the test rewards the plain reading rather than a number.
| Control station location | Allowed? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| A helicopter in flight | No | 107.25(a) |
| A parked car | Yes (the rule covers moving vehicles) | 107.25(b) does not apply to a stationary vehicle |
| A moving boat on open water, near empty shoreline, no cargo | Yes | Sparsely populated area and no property for hire |
| A moving car in a busy downtown, filming | No | Not a sparsely populated area |
| A moving boat, rural area, drone carrying a package for a paying customer | No | Carrying another person's property for compensation |
Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.25 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.205 (eCFR).
Can a waiver change this?
Section 107.25 is on the waiver list in 107.205, but the list states that a waiver cannot authorize the carriage of another person's property by aircraft for compensation or hire. That is the same limit written into 107.25(b). So a waiver can help with a moving-vehicle operation over a populated area, but not with paid cargo. See waivers and authorizations.
Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.205 (eCFR); FAA: Part 107 Waivers.
How is flying over moving vehicles different?
Do not mix up the two questions. 107.25 is about where the control station is. Flying over cars, which is a different issue, is covered by the operations-over-people rules that took effect in 2021. Section 107.39 says you may not fly over a human being unless the person is directly participating in the operation, is under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle that provides reasonable protection from a falling aircraft, or the flight meets one of the operational categories in subpart D. A person in a moving vehicle does not get the covered-structure or stationary-vehicle protection.
Section 107.145 adds the vehicle rule for the categories. You may not fly over a person inside a moving vehicle unless the flight meets the applicable category (107.110 for Category 1, 107.115 for Category 2, 107.125 for Category 3 or 107.140 for Category 4) and one more condition applies. For Categories 1 to 3, the aircraft stays within or over a closed or restricted-access site where occupants of moving vehicles have been notified that it may fly overhead, or it does not maintain sustained flight over moving vehicles. For Category 4, the aircraft needs a Part 21 airworthiness certificate, and its approved flight manual or the limits set by the FAA cannot prohibit flight over people in moving vehicles. Section 107.145 is also on the waiver list.
Worked example
Highway bridge inspection
Say you inspect a bridge and traffic runs on the road deck below. You are standing on the ground, so 107.25 is not the issue. The question is 107.39 and 107.145: cars below are people in moving vehicles. Without a qualifying category and the 107.145 conditions, or a waiver, you cannot make sustained passes over the traffic. Crossing a lane quickly while meeting the category's design standard is a different case from hovering above it. See operations over people.
Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.39 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.145 (eCFR); FAA: Operations Over People.
What counts as hazardous material under 107.36?
Section 107.36 has two sentences: a small unmanned aircraft may not carry hazardous material, and for this purpose the term is defined in 49 CFR 171.8. That definition is broad: a substance or material the Secretary of Transportation has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety and property when transported in commerce, and it includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, and materials listed in the Hazardous Materials Table or meeting the criteria in Part 173. Part 171.8 also lists the hazard classes 1 through 9, with the criteria in Part 173.
For the test, you do not need to memorize the table. You need to know that carrying it on a small drone is not allowed, and that the DOT definition, not your own view of "dangerous," decides what counts.
Worked example
A payload canister
Say a drone carries a sealed canister of a flammable liquid to a worksite. If that liquid is a hazardous material under 49 CFR 171.8, 107.36 bars the flight, regardless of how securely the canister is mounted and how short the trip is. If the payload is a camera or a plain sandbag, 107.36 is not in play, but 107.49(e) still requires any attachment or payload to be secured so it does not affect flight characteristics or controllability.
Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.36 (eCFR); 49 CFR 171.8 (definitions, hazardous material); 14 CFR 107.49 (eCFR).
What does 107.23 prohibit?
Section 107.23, titled hazardous operation, has two parts. You may not operate a small UAS in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another. And you may not allow an object to be dropped from a small unmanned aircraft in a manner that creates an undue hazard to persons or property.
The word to focus on is "undue." Dropping objects is not banned outright. It is the manner that counts: height, wind, the people and property below, and what the object is.
| Drop | Likely reading under 107.23(b) | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Releasing a light, soft item onto an empty field you have cleared | Not an undue hazard on the facts given | Clear ground, no one below, controlled release |
| Dropping a heavy, hard item over a parking lot with people walking through | Undue hazard | Mass, height and the people below |
| Releasing an item in strong wind that carries it onto a road | Undue hazard | Wind drift toward people or property |
| An unsecured part of the payload falls off in flight | Possible 107.23(b) and 107.49(e) problem | Failure to secure the attachment |
A flight that drops an object while carrying property for pay brings in the other rules in this guide. Another section, 107.15, covers condition for safe operation; read the detail in preflight and maintenance.
Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.23 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.49 (eCFR).
How do I answer test scenarios on these rules?
- Ask where the control station is. If it is in a moving aircraft, the answer is no. If it is in a moving car or boat, check the two conditions together.
- Ask where the aircraft is flying relative to people. If cars or people are below, think about 107.39 and 107.145, not 107.25.
- Ask what the aircraft carries. Anything that is hazardous material under 49 CFR 171.8 is out, and a payload for hire has a separate effect on 107.25(b).
- Ask whether the object is being released, and whether the release creates an undue hazard.
Keep in mind that the remote pilot in command is directly responsible for the operation (107.19), so a poor choice anywhere in this chain lands on the pilot. For other duties, see emergencies and accident reporting.
Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.19 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.25 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.36 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.23 (eCFR).
What are the most common mix-ups?
- Control station versus aircraft position. 107.25 asks where you are standing or riding. 107.39 and 107.145 ask where the drone is flying.
- Stationary versus moving vehicles. Cover from a falling aircraft counts for a person inside a stationary vehicle, not a moving one.
- Hazmat that is "only a little." 107.36 has no quantity threshold in its text; it says a small drone may not carry hazardous material as defined in 49 CFR 171.8.
- Dropping versus releasing under control. The test is whether the way the object falls creates an undue hazard to people or property.
- Paid cargo. The ban on carrying another person's property for compensation applies to moving-vehicle operations under 107.25(b), and the waiver list says it cannot be waived away for that purpose.
Worked example
A kayak launch
Say you launch from a kayak on a quiet lake with no people on shore, to film wildlife. The control station is on a moving water-borne vehicle. The area is sparsely populated and the drone carries only its own camera, so 107.25(b) is met. If a paying client asks you to carry their package to a dock, the second condition fails, and the flight is not allowed under 107.25(b).
Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.25 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.36 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.205 (eCFR).
Related guides
- Operations over people: Categories 1, 2, 3 and 4
- Part 107 waivers and airspace authorizations
- Part 107 operating rules: altitude, speed, visibility and clouds
- Preflight and maintenance for Part 107 flights
- Part 107 drug and alcohol rules: 8 hours, 0.04 and refusing a test
- All Part 107 guides
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Sources
- 14 CFR 107.25 (eCFR), checked 2026-11-14
- 14 CFR 107.36 (eCFR), checked 2026-11-14
- 14 CFR 107.23 (eCFR), checked 2026-11-14
- 14 CFR 107.39 (eCFR), checked 2026-11-14
- 14 CFR 107.145 (eCFR), checked 2026-11-14
- 14 CFR 107.205 (eCFR), checked 2026-11-14
- 49 CFR 171.8 (definitions, hazardous material), checked 2026-11-14
How this page was made: written by Certloom Learning from the sources above, with the rules checked against the current regulation text. Practice items are original questions from the app's reviewed bank. Spot an error? certloomlearning@gmail.com.