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Public-Safety Drone ProgramsDFR compliance, documented

Document every DFR flight like the audit is tomorrow.

You run a program, not a hobby. Your pilots fly under Part 107 — beyond visual line of sight under a §107.31 waiver, at night under §107.29 recurrent training and anti-collision lighting, over people under a §107.39 operational category — and every flight is a record a chief, a city attorney, or an FAA inspector may one day ask to see. AeroCopilot is one auditable ledger for the whole program: who's current, which aircraft are registered and Remote ID-ready, and which mission has proof attached. Built on official FAA data, never fabricated. AI Copilot on every seat, no token caps.

Drone-as-First-Responder programs are scaling faster than the paperwork behind them. Every flight your team runs under Part 107 — night, over people, beyond visual line of sight — is a record someone can request: a chief, a city attorney, an insurer, or an FAA inspector at a ramp check.

AeroCopilot gives the public-safety UAS coordinator one auditable ledger for the whole program: who is current, which aircraft are registered and Remote ID-ready, and which mission has weather, airspace, and incident proof attached — built on official FAA data, never fabricated.

  • Roster-wide §107.65 currency at a glance — see every RPIC's recency and who lapses next (consent-gated, because public-safety records are sensitive)
  • Mission records with a frozen snapshot — each mission captures and preserves its weather and airspace snapshot at plan time, so the flight file reads the same later that it did on launch day
  • §107.9 incident workflow — an automatic 10-calendar-day FAA reporting deadline with an overdue banner
  • Airspace intelligence before you launch — UAS Facility Map ceilings across 378,000 grid cells, TFR overlays, and an automatic "do I need LAANC here?" check
  • Operations-over-people readiness — track the Category 1-4 Declaration of Compliance (14 CFR Subpart D / §107.160) for the airframes you fly over bystanders
  • Fleet registry + inspection-ready exports — Part 48 registration and Remote ID (Part 89) status per aircraft, plus a document wallet and audit-ready CSV to hand an inspector in one pass
  • AI Copilot on every seat — no token caps, grounded in official FAA and NWS data
Program tools

What a public-safety UAS program actually needs.. Program-level accountability, not another pilot app.

Roster currency rollup
See §107.65 recency for every RPIC in one board and know who lapses next. Consent-gated employer view — DFR rosters are sensitive. Recency is one requirement among registration, Remote ID, airspace, and airworthiness — never a blanket "cleared to fly."
Mission snapshot, frozen at plan time
Every mission captures and preserves its weather and airspace snapshot at plan time, linked to the case or incident it served. The flight file reads the same next quarter as it did on launch day.
§107.9 incident reporting
A guided workflow computes the 10-calendar-day FAA deadline the moment an incident is logged, and banners it when it's overdue or within 48 hours.
Airspace + LAANC check
UAS Facility Map ceilings across 378,000 grid cells, active TFRs, and an automatic "does this site need LAANC?" answer — so a scene launch isn't a guess.
Fleet & Remote ID registry
Part 48 registration and Remote ID (Part 89) status per airframe, with the maintenance log insurers require at renewal.
Inspection-ready exports
A digital document wallet plus audit-ready CSV exports: certificate, currency, registration, Remote ID, and insurance handed over in one pass when the ramp check comes.
Ops-over-people readiness
Flying a case over bystanders under §107.39? Track the operational category the airframe carries — Category 1 (0.55 lb or less) needs no declaration, Categories 2 and 3 rely on the manufacturer's Declaration of Compliance (14 CFR Subpart D / §107.160), and Category 4 requires a standard airworthiness certificate — attached to the mission it applies to, not buried in a binder.
Day in the life

A DFR shift with AeroCopilot.. How the platform fits a public-safety UAS operation.

0600 — Roster check
The board shows all on-shift RPICs current under §107.65. One pilot lapses in 21 days and is flagged amber so scheduling can slot recurrent training first.
0730 — Pre-launch airspace
A call comes in near the Class D shelf. The airspace check returns the UAS Facility Map ceiling and confirms whether authorization is required before the aircraft leaves the vehicle.
0930 — Mission logged
The DFR flight saves as a mission with its weather and airspace snapshot captured and preserved at plan time — a record ready to hand over if a public-records request comes in.
1200 — Minor incident
A drone clips a branch and is damaged. The §107.9 helper opens, computes the 10-day deadline, and the team assesses whether the "more than $500" threshold is met.
1500 — Fleet status
One airframe's Remote ID module needs a firmware update before its next flight. The fleet registry flags it and logs the maintenance for the insurer's file.
1730 — End of shift
The day's missions, currency state, and any incident export as an inspection-ready packet — nothing to reconstruct if the audit lands tomorrow.

Public-safety programs answer to more than the FAA

A chief, a city attorney, an insurer, and an FAA inspector can each ask for the same flight file — and each expects it complete and consistent with what was recorded at the time. A spreadsheet and a shared drive don't survive that scrutiny at program scale.

AeroCopilot was built so the answer to "show me that flight" is one export, not a week of reconstruction — on official FAA data, on a ledger your program controls.

For the full Remote Pilot Certificate, LAANC, Remote ID, and waiver picture for an individual operator, see the 14 CFR Part 107 drone regulations guide.

What we don't do yet — and won't pretend to

A compliance platform that hides its gaps isn't a compliance platform.

  • Direct LAANC submission to the FAA is not live yet. Today we tell you whether a site needs authorization and show the ceiling; in-app submission arrives when our LAANC provider integration goes live.
  • Special Governmental Interest (SGI) request workflows and Part 108 (BVLOS) readiness are on the roadmap, not shipped. We won't document a flight under a rule we don't yet support.
  • Public-aircraft / COA operations differ from Part 107 in recency and reporting. Our currency and §107.9 tooling is Part 107-grounded — if your program flies under a public COA, talk to us about fit before you rely on it.
  • We are not SOC 2-certified today. We'll walk your procurement team through exactly how program data is stored and access-controlled, and where formal attestations sit on our roadmap.

Stand up your program's system of record

Operator pricing — $39 per seat, or a flat $199/month once you're past six RPICs. AI on every seat, no token caps.

Public-safety drone program FAQ

How does a public-safety drone program stay audit-ready?

One system of record: RPIC §107.65 currency, aircraft Part 48 registration and Remote ID status, and a per-mission file with weather and airspace captured at plan time. Report an incident to the FAA within 10 calendar days if it causes serious injury, unconsciousness, or property damage over $500, excluding the drone itself (14 CFR §107.9).

When must a public-safety drone accident be reported to the FAA?

Within 10 calendar days if the operation caused serious injury, loss of consciousness, or damage of more than $500 to property other than the drone — repair cost or fair market value, whichever is less (14 CFR §107.9). Exactly $500 does not trigger a report.

Do police and fire departments fly drones under Part 107?

Many civil public-safety programs operate under 14 CFR Part 107 — flying beyond visual line of sight requires a §107.31 waiver, night operations require §107.29 recurrent training and anti-collision lighting, and operations over people require a matching §107.39 operational category. Some agencies instead fly under a public-aircraft Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA), which follows different recency and reporting rules.

How do you keep every RPIC current across a program?

An RPIC's recency lapses at the end of the 24th calendar month after the last knowledge test or the free recurrent training ALC-677 (§107.65). A roster board that re-derives each pilot's recency shows who lapses next — though currency is one requirement among registration, Remote ID, airspace, and airworthiness, never a blanket clearance to fly.

Can I submit LAANC through AeroCopilot?

Not yet. Today AeroCopilot tells you whether a site needs airspace authorization and shows the UAS Facility Map ceiling; direct in-app LAANC submission arrives when our provider integration goes live.

Does AeroCopilot handle NDAA / Blue UAS requirements?

NDAA Section 848 and the Blue UAS program restrict federal funds from buying drones made by certain manufacturers — a rule about who built the aircraft, not which software runs your program. AeroCopilot is software, not a drone manufacturer, so that restriction doesn't apply to us the way it applies to your airframes. Tagging each aircraft's manufacturer / Blue UAS status in the fleet registry is on our roadmap — ask us where it stands before you rely on it.

What does AeroCopilot cost for a public-safety program?

Operator pricing: $39 per seat per month, or a flat $199/month once you have six or more RPICs — whichever is lower. AI Copilot is included on every seat with no token caps.