FAA 2025 Enforcement Report: Drone Pilots Fined Up to $36,770, Certificates Suspended and Revoked

Drone pilots are losing their certificates and being fined up to $36,770. And one pilot just had their certificate permanently revoked. We know this because the FAA just released its 2025 enforcement report. They fined 18 operations, suspended or revoked the licenses of eight pilots, and announced a new enforcement policy that makes things even stricter. In this article, I’m going to break down every case — including what they did, what rules they broke, and what you can do to avoid being that person.

Here’s the big picture before we get into the specific cases. The FAA levied fines against 18 operations for violations between 2023 and 2025, ranging from $1,771 to $36,770 — keeping in mind that the maximum penalty is $75,000 per violation. And there’s a pattern you need to notice right away: in every one of these cases involving civil penalties, the pilot did not hold a Part 107 certificate and did not have their drone registered when they should have. These weren’t licensed pilots making judgment calls. These were completely uncertified operators.

Super Bowl LVII TFR Violation: The Classic Big-Event Mistake

With that in mind, let’s walk through the highlights of the cases from the smallest to the largest. First up is a classic big-event, obvious-restriction scenario — and the FAA doesn’t play around with these. A drone was operated near State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona during Super Bowl LVII on February 12, 2023. The TFR classified the airspace as National Defense Airspace, and the pilot had no Part 107 certificate, no drone registration, and was flying in Class Delta airspace without ATC authorization. The fine came in at $14,790.

The FAA puts TFRs in place well in advance. They are easy to find, and there’s really no excuse for not checking. And if you think that was just a one-off, the next case is basically a checklist of mistakes.

Flying Over a Festival Crowd: Every Rule Broken at Once

This one is an example of what happens when someone brings a drone into a packed crowd and ignores every rule that exists. A pilot flew a DJI Mavic 2 Pro over a crowd at Sunfest in West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 5, 2024. People were actually throwing ice at the drone. It ended up hitting a coconut tree, and the pilot had no Part 107 certificate, no registration, and no remote ID. They were also flying in Class C airspace without ATC authorization and failed to maintain visual line of sight for the entire flight. The fine was $20,370.

Make sure you’re familiar with Part 107 rules regarding flying over people, what categorized aircraft are required, and why a music festival crowd is an obvious no-go.

VIP Airspace Violation Near Mar-a-Lago: $20,371 Fine

Let’s shift from crowds and events to a location that gets enforced aggressively every single time. Next is a VIP airspace violation — and these are the kind of flights that get attention fast. A drone flew in restricted airspace near Mar-a-Lago on January 13, 2025, classified at the time as National Defense Airspace under a NOTAM. The pilot had no Part 107, no registration, flew above 400 feet AGL, lost visual line of sight, and was in Class C airspace without ATC authorization. The pilot faced a fine of $20,371 for it.

Don’t Skip Drone Registration — It’s $5 and Takes Minutes

By now, you may have noticed a recurring theme: drones were not registered when they were supposed to be. And this is actually an easy step. All you need to do is head over to the FAA DroneZone website and follow the prompts. It’s going to cost you $5 and it’s good for three years. In our effort to make sure people actually take this step, we’ve been offering free registration stickers for years — click the link in the description and we’ll send you a set, completely free.

Biggest Fine in the Report: $36,770 for Interfering With a Wildfire Emergency Response

If we’re wondering what the FAA considers the worst-case scenario, it’s this next one — because it impacted real emergency operations. This is the biggest fine in the report for a reason: it didn’t just break the rules, it actually stopped an emergency response.

A pilot flew a drone in the vicinity of Soldier Delight Natural Environment Area in Baltimore County, Maryland, on April 4, 2023, during an active wildfire. The drone came within approximately 140 feet of a police helicopter, and as a result, aerial wildfire suppression and emergency response were suspended for 30 to 40 minutes. Multiple agencies were involved — Baltimore County Fire, police, Maryland State Police, and the National Guard. The pilot had no Part 107 and no registration. The FAA also cited a very specific federal statute, 49 USC 46320, for knowingly and recklessly interfering with a wildfire response, which carries a separate penalty of up to $20,000 on top of the FAA fines. The total fine reached $36,770.

When drones enter wildfire airspace, they force helicopters and air tankers to be grounded. In this case, the fire kept burning — and that can cost lives.

Certificate Suspensions: Certified Pilots Who Broke Rules They Should Have Known

Fines are one thing, but the FAA also went after licenses in 2025. Eight remote pilots faced suspension or revocation. A suspension is temporary — they usually range from 150 to 300 days. A revocation means you lose your certificate permanently. And here’s what makes these cases different: unlike the fined pilots we talked about earlier, these operators actually held a Part 107 certificate. They were trained, certified pilots who broke the rules they were supposed to know.

The first case looks a lot like the Super Bowl case, except this time the pilot was certified. A pilot flew a DJI Mavic 3 over people in the vicinity of Oriole Park at Camden Yards during the Ravens versus the Denver Broncos game on November 3, 2024. The pilot was in BWI Class B airspace without ATC authorization, violated a NOTAM covering the event, failed to maintain visual line of sight, and flew over people who weren’t under cover or participating in the operation. Similar violation to the Super Bowl case — but instead of a fine, since the pilot held a certificate, it was suspended.

Sky Elements Drone Show at Lake Eola: When Having Waivers Isn’t Enough

Next up is a totally different kind of operation — one where the paperwork was actually in place, but the execution fell apart. This is a case we’ve covered multiple times in our news updates as the story developed. It’s proof that having waivers doesn’t actually help if you don’t follow the safety procedures you promised the FAA you would follow.

This was a Sky Elements operation at Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida, on December 21, 2024. The pilot failed to upload the correct flight path files — some of the drones were running paths from the previous show. The show position was rotated seven degrees from the plan, and the geo-fences were not adjusted to match. Multiple drones failed on takeoff. The layer didn’t lift uniformly. And when the pilot noticed the failure, they did not issue a hover command or assess the situation — they continued the show. Drones collided mid-air, fell to the ground and into the water, and at least one struck a spectator who sustained serious injury. We talked about that case — it was a seven-year-old child.

This is a case where the waiver system worked as intended. The pilot had the proper waivers but failed to follow the safety procedures they committed to in their own waiver application.

Drone vs. Paraglider at Torrey Pines: A 300-Day Suspension

If you think that one was bad, the next one is actually worse — because it directly involves another person in the air. This is the kind of incident that turns a drone flight into an aviation emergency in seconds.

The pilot was flying at Torrey Pines Gliderport in California on January 7, 2025, and the drone collided with a paraglider. It became entangled in the risers, forcing the paraglider to make an emergency landing. The FAA cited the pilot for failing to yield the right of way to all aircraft, operating so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard — an actual collision in this case — and failing to maintain visual line of sight.

This one is different because it directly endangered another person who was in the air. The pilot received a 300-day suspension, which is the longest in the group.

Emergency Revocation at Mar-a-Lago: A Part 107 Career Ended Immediately

And finally, we get to the most severe outcome in the entire report — one that ended the Part 107 career of that pilot immediately. The pilot flew a DJI Air 3S near Mar-a-Lago at 9:00 p.m. on September 7, 2025. The FAA states that the pilot knew that Mar-a-Lago was the residence of the president and intentionally flew in the area to film the property. The TFR classified the airspace as National Defense Airspace, and the drone was not registered.

This was not a standard revocation process. The FAA issued an emergency order of revocation, meaning it was effective immediately. The FAA’s language is unusually direct — the pilot’s conduct demonstrated “a lack of the care, judgment, and responsibility that every remote pilot certificate holder must possess,” and their unwillingness and/or inability to comply “demonstrated such a disregard for the safety consequences that it poses an unacceptable risk to safety.”

Note also that another pilot was fined $20,371 for the same type of violation at the same location on January 13, 2025 — earlier in the same year. The FAA has zero tolerance for this, and that pilot’s Part 107 is gone.

What This Means for You: The FAA Is Watching, and So Is the Public

So what do we do with all of this information? The FAA updated its enforcement policy in 2026 to require legal action when drone operations endanger the public, violate airspace restrictions, or are conducted in furtherance of another crime. This is a policy mandate — not a suggestion.

Here’s the key shift: the FAA is paying attention now, and so are the people around you. They issued a press release encouraging the public to report unsafe drone operations to their local Flight Standards District Office — the FSDO. The environment has changed. The FAA is enforcing more aggressively, penalties are real, and the public is being encouraged to report violations. This isn’t the time to cut corners.

You can read the full FAA enforcement announcement on the FAA’s website. And if you want a simple way to make sure you have all your bases covered before every single flight, we put together a free pre-flight checklist — get it using this link.

For more drone news and training resources, visit the Pilot Institute YouTube channel, and check out Greg’s articles on DroneXL.