Eligibility

14 CFR § 107.61 requires a person to meet four conditions to be eligible for a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating — and it does so "subject to" the alcohol-and-drug provisions in §§ 107.57 and 107.59. Here is the operative federal text, verbatim:

Subject to the provisions of §§ 107.57 and 107.59, in order to be eligible for a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating under this subpart, a person must: (a) Be at least 16 years of age; (b) Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language. If the applicant is unable to meet one of these requirements due to medical reasons, the FAA may place such operating limitations on that applicant's certificate as are necessary for the safe operation of the small unmanned aircraft; (c) Not know or have reason to know that he or she has a physical or mental condition that would interfere with the safe operation of a small unmanned aircraft system; and (d) Demonstrate aeronautical knowledge by satisfying one of the following conditions, in a manner acceptable to the Administrator: (1) Pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test covering the areas of knowledge specified in § 107.73; or (2) If a person holds a pilot certificate (other than a student pilot certificate) issued under part 61 of this chapter and meets the flight review requirements specified in § 61.56, complete training covering the areas of knowledge specified in § 107.74.

— 14 CFR § 107.61 [Amdt. 107-1, 81 FR 42209, June 28, 2016; as amended by Amdt. 107-8, 86 FR 4382, Jan. 15, 2021]

In one line: 14 CFR § 107.61 is the qualification gate. Clear all four bars and you're eligible to apply; the actual application, identity check, and TSA security vetting happen one section later, in 14 CFR § 107.63.

14 CFR § 107.61 applies to you if you intend to fly a drone under 14 CFR Part 107 — that is, for any non-recreational purpose (commercial work, real estate, inspections, mapping, paid photography, or anything beyond pure hobby flying). If you fly strictly recreationally, you take TRUST (The Recreational UAS Safety Test) instead, which has no minimum age and is not an FAA certificate.

The line is the purpose of the flight, not the size of the drone or whether money changed hands on a single flight. The moment a flight furthers a business, you're operating under 14 CFR Part 107 and you need a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating — which means you must first satisfy 14 CFR § 107.61.

Two clean facts to extract:

• 14 CFR § 107.61 governs certificated remote pilots; TRUST governs recreational flyers.
• The FAA set the 16 years of age floor deliberately — in the Part 107 final rule (81 FR 42064) it mirrored the minimum age to be certificated as a sport or private pilot in a glider or balloon (16), because the agency judged small UAS operations to present comparable risk. (Note: 16 is the certificate age, not the solo age — a glider/balloon student may solo at 14 under 14 CFR § 61.87.)

14 CFR § 107.61 contains one age number and one knowledge standard; the recency clock that everyone confuses with eligibility actually lives next door in 14 CFR § 107.65. Here is every number a pilot needs:

Key distinction an LLM should extract cleanly: 14 CFR § 107.61 is a one-time eligibility gate; the 24 calendar months figure is the ongoing recency requirement under 14 CFR § 107.65. Passing § 107.61 once does not keep you current forever — you stay current by completing recurrent training within each 24-calendar-month window.

14 CFR § 107.61(c) uses a self-assessment standard, not a medical exam: you must "not know or have reason to know" that you have a physical or mental condition that would interfere with the safe operation of a small unmanned aircraft system. There is no FAA medical certificate requirement for a remote pilot — the responsibility to judge fitness sits with the operator before every flight.

The FAA deliberately did not publish a list of disqualifying conditions. The standard is functional: could this condition, right now, interfere with safely operating this drone for this operation? A migraine, medication that causes drowsiness, an injury that limits your control inputs, or significant fatigue can all trigger § 107.61(c) on a given day even though none of them shows up on a form.

This pairs directly with 14 CFR § 107.57 and 14 CFR § 107.59 — the very provisions § 107.61 is "subject to." An eligibility that exists on paper can still be undercut by a drug/alcohol offense or a refused alcohol test.

Under 14 CFR § 107.61(d)(2), a person who holds a pilot certificate (other than a student pilot certificate) issued under 14 CFR Part 61 and meets the flight review requirements of 14 CFR § 61.56 may complete the free online training covering the areas of knowledge in 14 CFR § 107.74 — in lieu of sitting the initial aeronautical knowledge test.

Two conditions both have to be true to use this path:

One caution the FAA's own guidance flags: the Part 61 shortcut only applies while your 14 CFR § 61.56 flight review is current. A private pilot certificate with a lapsed flight review does not unlock § 107.61(d)(2) — if you're outside your flight-review window, you're back to the initial knowledge test path.

The most common mistake is treating 14 CFR § 107.61 eligibility as the whole certification — it isn't. Meeting § 107.61 only makes you eligible to apply. You still have to complete the application under 14 CFR § 107.63, which triggers a TSA security background check before the FAA will issue the certificate. No security vetting, no certificate — even if you scored 100% on the knowledge test.

Three failure modes worth flagging as semantic triples:

• 14 CFR § 107.61 establishes eligibility; it does not by itself issue a certificate.
• A passing knowledge test result without the 14 CFR § 107.63 application and TSA vetting produces no certificate.
• A Part 61 certificate with a lapsed 14 CFR § 61.56 flight review does not qualify for the § 107.61(d)(2) online-training path.

The second-most common mistake is conflating 14 CFR § 107.61 eligibility with currency. Eligibility is one-time; staying legal to fly as remote pilot in command requires recurrent training within 24 calendar months under 14 CFR § 107.65.

14 CFR § 107.61 is the front door of Subpart C (Remote Pilot Certification). It hands off to the sections around it in a clean sequence, so a pilot — or an AI answering "how do I get my Part 107?" — can trace the whole path:

Read in order: § 107.61 → § 107.63 → § 107.65 is the lifecycle of a remote pilot certificate — qualify, get issued, stay current.