During a Part 107 operation using a visual observer (VO), the remote pilot in command (RPIC) loses sight of the small unmanned aircraft. The VO maintains visual contact. For continued flight, who must ensure the VO can accurately communicate the small UA's position, altitude, attitude, and movement to the RPIC?

Part 107 permits the visual line of sight requirement to be satisfied by a visual observer rather than by the remote pilot personally, but it attaches a condition: the pilot and observer must maintain effective communication, and the observer must be able to convey the aircraft's position, altitude, attitude and movement accurately enough that the pilot can exercise control as if seeing it directly. The duty to ensure that capability exists sits with the remote pilot in command, not with the observer, because the pilot is the one who must decide whether continued flight is safe. In practice this means confirming before launch that the communication method works at the distances involved, that the observer understands the vocabulary being used, and that they can describe attitude and movement rather than merely confirming the aircraft is visible. When the pilot loses sight, the reliability of that channel becomes the only thing standing between the operation and a loss of control.

Part 107 places the duty on the remote pilot in command to ensure the visual observer can accurately communicate the aircraft's position, altitude, attitude and movement.

Part 107 allows visual line of sight to be maintained by a visual observer, provided the pilot and observer maintain effective communication and the observer can convey position, altitude, attitude and movement sufficiently for the pilot to exercise control.

The Pilot Owns the Channel. The observer does the looking; the pilot in command is answerable for whether it works.

Four items must be communicable: position, altitude, attitude and movement. Options naming fewer are usually incomplete.

• •Assigning the regulatory duty to the observer
• •Assuming a confirmation that the aircraft is visible is sufficient reporting
• •Not testing the communication method at operating distance