You Must Pass the FAA’s TRUST Test to Legally Fly a Drone in the U.S.

junio 24, 2021

You Must Pass the FAA’s TRUST Test to Legally Fly a Drone in the U.S.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released its TRUST test, a free online training program to certify that pilots understand the rules of drone flight and is required in order to fly a drone, even recreationally.

The Recreational UAS Safety Test, otherwise known as TRUST, applies to all drones that weigh more than 0.55 pounds and dictates that not only must they be registered through the FAA’s Drone Zone, but all pilots must also pass the TRUST test. Even those who just operate a drone “for fun or personal enjoyment” must take this test in order to legally fly in the United States.

The test is designed to provide education and testing for recreational flyers on important safety and regulatory information. The FAA says that even pilots who fly drones recreationally under the Exception for Recreational Flyers — which includes drone flights for educational purposes — must pass the test before they can legally fly.

All pilots — even those who already possess a Part 107 certification — must complete the TRUST test and be able to show proof of passing to an agent of the FAA or law enforcement if prompted.

The FAA has listed the following entities as Approved Test Administrators for TRUST. The only way to take the TRUST test is to do so through any of the below organizations.

The FAA says that TRUST is divided into two sections: The first section provides prospective pilots with the information needed to pass the test. The second section is a series of multiple-choice questions. It is not possible to fail the test. If a question is answered incorrectly, information on why that was the incorrect answer will be provided, and the question will be asked again.

After the conclusion of the test, pilots will be provided with a certificate that never expires, however, if that certificate is lost, the test will have to be retaken to obtain a new one. The FAA says neither it nor the administrator of the test will maintain any personally identifiable information about the recreational flyer, so neither will be able to re-print or re-issue the certificate.