Part 107 Night Operations: § 107.29 Training and Anti-Collision Lights

Federal Part 107 night work is governed by a single operating section: 14 CFR § 107.29 (Operation at night), as published in the eCFR and current as of early September 2026. This article restates that section for commercial remote pilots. It is a law explainer, not legal advice. Confirm the live eCFR text before a night job, and consult counsel when your operation sits outside the plain language of the rule.

Part 107 night operations are no longer framed as an automatic waiver problem. Section 107.29 states when night flight is allowed under the rule itself, when civil twilight still requires anti-collision lighting, and when older night waivers no longer authorize night work.

What § 107.29(a) requires for night without a waiver

Except as provided in § 107.29(d), no person may operate a small unmanned aircraft system at night unless both of the following are true:

1. The remote pilot in command of the small unmanned aircraft has completed an initial knowledge test or training, as applicable, under § 107.65 after April 6, 2021; and
2. The small unmanned aircraft has lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles that has a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision.

Both conditions are conjunctive. Training alone does not satisfy the aircraft lighting requirement. Lighting alone does not satisfy the remote PIC training/test timing requirement. For Part 107 night operations without relying on a waiver path addressed in paragraph (d), the remote PIC and the aircraft must each meet the rule.

The training/test hook is tied to § 107.65 and to a calendar date: completion after April 6, 2021. A certificate or recurrent training record that does not meet that timing does not fulfill § 107.29(a)(1) as written.

Anti-collision lighting intensity: reduce, do not extinguish

Section 107.29(a)(2) continues: the remote pilot in command may reduce the intensity of, but may not extinguish, the anti-collision lighting if he or she determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to do so.

That sentence is limited. Intensity may be reduced when the remote PIC determines safety requires it. Extinguishing the anti-collision lighting is not authorized by that sentence. Operational pressure, client preference, or a desire for a darker scene for imaging does not rewrite the text. The lighted anti-collision lighting requirement remains, subject only to the intensity-reduction permission stated in the regulation.

The visibility floor in the same paragraph is quantitative: visible for at least 3 statute miles, with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision. The regulation does not substitute a different distance for night versus twilight in the lighting clauses that use that standard.

Civil twilight: same 3-statute-mile lighting rule

Night is not the only period § 107.29 addresses. Under § 107.29(b), no person may operate a small unmanned aircraft system during periods of civil twilight unless the small unmanned aircraft has lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles that has a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision. The same intensity rule applies: the remote PIC may reduce intensity but may not extinguish the anti-collision lighting when the remote PIC determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to do so.

Civil twilight is defined in § 107.29(c):

• Except for Alaska, a period of time that begins 30 minutes before official sunrise and ends at official sunrise;
• Except for Alaska, a period of time that begins at official sunset and ends 30 minutes after official sunset; and
• In Alaska, the period of civil twilight as defined in the Air Almanac.

For the contiguous United States and other non-Alaska locations covered by the “except for Alaska” clauses, the civil-twilight windows are the familiar 30-minute shoulders around official sunrise and sunset. Alaska uses the Air Almanac definition. Pilots planning civil-twilight flights should treat those definitions as part of the operating rule, not optional guidance.

Note the structural difference: paragraph (a) pairs night with both the post–April 6, 2021 knowledge test/training condition and the lighting condition. Paragraph (b) states the lighting condition for civil twilight. Read both paragraphs against your actual clock time and location rather than treating “almost dark” as interchangeable with “night” under the regulation.

Pre-April 2021 night waivers and the May 17, 2021 cutoff

Section 107.29(d) addresses older certificates of waiver. After May 17, 2021, no person may operate a small unmanned aircraft system at night in accordance with a certificate of waiver issued prior to April 21, 2021 under § 107.200. The certificates of waiver issued prior to March 16, 2021 under § 107.200 that authorize deviation from § 107.29 terminate on May 17, 2021.

In practical terms, the regulation ends reliance on those pre-April 2021 night-waiver authorizations after the May 17, 2021 date stated in the text. Night operations after that cutoff are analyzed under the current § 107.29 framework (including paragraphs (a)–(c) as applicable), not under a terminated pre-2021 night waiver. This article invents no fine amounts and does not speculate about enforcement outcomes; it restates the termination and prohibition language in paragraph (d).

How this section fits the rest of Part 107

Section 107.29 is an operating rule inside Part 107. It does not replace other applicable Part 107 requirements for the flight — airspace authorization where required, remote pilot responsibilities, aircraft registration and Remote ID rules that apply to the aircraft and operation, and any other section that remains in force at night. Meeting § 107.29 does not erase those layers. Separately, state and local rules may still apply to the activity on the ground or to imaging; federal night authorization under Part 107 is not a state-law clearance.

Remote identification rules live in Part 89; see what Remote ID still requires on a Part 107 flight. Lighting and night-training conditions are not Remote ID conditions.

Compliance checklist language (not a substitute for the CFR)

Before a Part 107 night operation, operators typically verify against the regulation:

• Whether the flight is night under the applicable definitions, or civil twilight under § 107.29(c);
• Whether the remote PIC’s initial knowledge test or training under § 107.65 was completed after April 6, 2021, when relying on § 107.29(a);
• Whether the aircraft’s lighted anti-collision lighting is visible for at least 3 statute miles with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision;
• Whether any intensity reduction stays within the “may reduce / may not extinguish” limit;
• Whether any legacy night waiver dated prior to the cutoffs in § 107.29(d) is being incorrectly treated as still authorizing night flight after May 17, 2021.

Those bullets paraphrase the regulation. The controlling text is 14 CFR § 107.29 on the eCFR.

Scope and disclaimer

This post covers federal Part 107 night operations under § 107.29 only. It does not invent civil or criminal fines, does not price waivers, and does not offer product or vendor recommendations. It is not legal advice. For the authoritative wording — including amendments reflected in the eCFR as of early September 2026 — read 14 CFR § 107.29 and related Part 107 sections that apply to your specific flight.