For a commercial drone shoot in Indiana, the FAA’s Part 107 rules come first. Indiana does not license drone pilots or register drones; its drone laws are criminal offenses aimed at harassment, voyeurism, interference with first responders and hunting, and one of them was widened on July 1, 2026. Where you can take off is decided by landowners and local offices: the Indiana DNR bars drones from its properties except at designated sites, Indianapolis routes drone shoots through Film Indy and the police, and Fort Wayne requires advance notice for flights over downtown.
This is general information, not legal advice. Airspace and rules change, so check B4UFLY or a LAANC app and the relevant permit office before every flight.
The federal baseline
Any flight that supports a business falls under 14 CFR Part 107. The pilot needs an FAA remote pilot certificate, keeps the drone within visual line of sight and stays at or below 400 feet above ground level, higher only within 400 feet of a structure. Flying over people, at night or in controlled airspace each carries extra conditions, and registered drones must broadcast Remote ID, which the FAA has enforced since March 16, 2024. Indiana adds nothing to that federal list; its laws work on top of it. Our Detroit drone rules guide walks through those federal rules, and they apply the same way in Indiana.
What Indiana law adds
The Indiana Code does not create a state drone license or registration. What it does have is a set of drone-specific offenses, which we checked against the 2026 Indiana Code on the General Assembly’s site.
Remote aerial harassment, widened in 2026. House Enrolled Act 1249, signed March 12, 2026 as Public Law 158-2026, rewrote IC 35-45-10-6 effective July 1, 2026. It is now a Class A misdemeanor to:
- fly a drone intending to harass another person;
- fly over another person’s property without consent, intending to harass, disturb or injure a person or animal, or to damage or disturb a crop;
- knowingly spray or drop any substance from a drone onto someone else’s property without consent; or
- fly over another person’s property without consent in a way that interferes with or endangers another aircraft or drone.
A second conviction is a Level 6 felony. The law allows a defense for mechanical or electronic failure, or for acting to avoid a greater harm.
For commercial crews, the new property clauses are a reason to get consent from neighbors when a flight path will cross their land, especially on farms, at equestrian properties and near other aircraft such as crop dusters.
Remote aerial voyeurism. Under IC 35-45-4-5(g), flying a drone into the space above or around someone’s occupied home, with intent to peep, to capture images or recordings of them inside the home, or on the property where they cannot be seen from a public area, is a Class A misdemeanor.
Interfering with first responders. IC 35-44.1-4-10 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to fly a drone intending to obstruct police, firefighters, emergency medical workers or search and rescue teams on duty.
Hunting. IC 14-22-6-16 bars using a drone to search for, scout or locate a wild animal as an aid to taking it during hunting season, with exceptions such as monitoring farmland.
Police drones and counter-drone authority. IC 35-33-5-9 requires police to get a search warrant for most drone surveillance of private property. A 2026 law, Public Law 72-2026, added a counter-drone article to the code, IC 10-22, but it applies only if federal law authorizes state or local police to detect and disable drones and the governor publishes a notice.
No statewide preemption. We found no Indiana statute that stops cities or counties from setting their own drone rules, unlike Michigan and Illinois. Fort Wayne’s notification ordinance, described below, is one example of a local rule.
Indiana DNR and federal land
The Indiana DNR’s drone page is short and strict: motor-driven airborne devices, including drones, may not be operated at DNR properties except at sites designated for that purpose. The rule language is 312 IAC 8-2-8(i). The DNR says licenses to launch and film are granted occasionally, by the DNR or by individual divisions, and that an FAA license and proof of insurance may be required. Its rules page also links a commercial film and photography agreement form. Start with the property manager at the site.
That covers state parks, which include Indiana Dunes State Park on Lake Michigan. The larger Indiana Dunes National Park around it is federal land. The National Park Service’s Policy Memorandum 14-05 directed superintendents to prohibit launching, landing or operating drones on park lands and waters, and the NPS says that is still in force with a few exceptions. For shoreline aerials there, the realistic plan is to launch from private land outside both parks, with the owner’s permission.
Indianapolis
Airspace. Downtown Indianapolis sits about 7 nautical miles northeast of Indianapolis International Airport (IND). FAA Class Airspace data shows Monument Circle, Lucas Oil Stadium, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Fountain Square and the IU Indianapolis campus under IND’s Class C shelf, which starts at 2,100 feet above sea level. The FAA returned no UAS facility map grid for those points, and Class G runs to the surface, so a Part 107 flight below 400 feet needs no LAANC there. Broad Ripple, Carmel and Fishers showed no controlled airspace at the surface either.
Closer to the airport, IND’s surface Class C applies. Its facility map has 459 grid squares, with ceilings from 0 to 400 feet. The south end of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway sits inside that surface area, where the grid we checked allows 200 feet.
Stadiums and races. The FAA’s stadium restriction bans drones within 3 nautical miles from one hour before to one hour after NFL, MLB and NCAA Division I football games and IndyCar and NASCAR Cup races. Lucas Oil Stadium is about 0.6 nautical miles from Monument Circle, so Colts home games close the airspace over all of downtown. The Speedway’s ring covers the town of Speedway and much of the west side during race events.
Film Indy and IMPD. Film Indy, the city’s film office, lists use of drones among the requests that require a film permit, along with street closures and access to state and local government property. Every production must have a film application on file and furnish proof of liability insurance before Film Indy releases the permit. Visit Indy’s undated drone guide lays out the rest: after the application, Film Indy asks for a flight plan and submits it to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and the flight is cleared once everything is approved. It warns that flying without that clearance can bring fines starting at $500 and confiscation of the drone by IMPD for up to 24 hours.
Film Indy’s FAQ answers two questions directly. Drones may not fly above Monument Circle. And only an FAA-certified pilot may fly a drone for a production in Marion County. There is no city fee for general b-roll, but right-of-way permits for sidewalks and road closures carry daily fees.
City parks. We did not find a published Indy Parks drone policy we could verify. For any shot that launches from or flies low over a city park, we ask Indy Parks for written permission first.
Fort Wayne
The drone ordinance. Fort Wayne Municipal Code 96.30 requires pilots to notify the city before flying in two places, according to the Fort Wayne Police Department:
- above the Downtown Aerial District, a circle with a 5,500 foot radius from the 100 block of West Main Street; and
- above or within 500 yards of a city-permitted public event, such as a festival, block party or parade.
The city says this is a notice, not an approval process. It is filed through an online UAS flight notification form. The ordinance also prohibits unsafe flights, and the police department enforces it with a warning, a citation or impoundment of drone equipment for up to three business days. The Right-of-Way Department can confirm whether an event has a permit that triggers the notice.
Airspace. Fort Wayne International Airport (FWA) is about 6.6 nautical miles south of downtown. FAA data shows downtown under FWA’s Class C shelf, which starts at 2,000 feet above sea level, with no facility map grid. The same data shows a Class E extension of the airport’s airspace starting at the surface over downtown and part of the near east side. Extensions like this are not the same as the airport’s surface area, and the FAA publishes no LAANC grid for them, so we confirm what applies at the exact address in B4UFLY and a LAANC app before quoting. FWA’s own surface Class C has 464 grid squares, with ceilings from 0 to 400 feet.
Elsewhere in Indiana
- Northwest Indiana. Lake and Porter counties are on Central time, like Chicago. FAA data shows Gary/Chicago International Airport’s (GYY) Class D airspace at the surface over downtown Gary, so check the grid there. Our Chicago drone rules guide covers the Illinois side of the lakefront.
- College towns. Notre Dame, Purdue and Indiana University home football games bring the 3 nautical mile stadium restriction. FAA data shows the center of Purdue’s campus inside Purdue University Airport’s (LAF) Class D, where the grid we checked is 0 feet, so LAANC cannot approve a flight there. The Notre Dame campus sits inside South Bend’s (SBN) Class C, where the grid we checked allows 100 feet.
Before every Indiana flight
| Check | Why it matters | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Airspace at the launch point | IND, FWA, GYY, LAF and SBN have surface controlled airspace | B4UFLY or a LAANC app |
| Stadium and race calendar | Colts games cover downtown Indianapolis; IndyCar at the Speedway | FAA SEAMS, TFR list |
| Film Indy permit and IMPD flight plan | Required for drone use in Indianapolis productions | Film Indy application |
| Fort Wayne notice | Downtown Aerial District and permitted events | City UAS notification form |
| DNR or NPS land | Drones barred except designated sites or licenses | Property manager |
| Neighbor consent | New remote aerial harassment clauses cover flights over others’ property | Written permission |
| Time zone | Most of Indiana is Eastern; the northwest corner is Central | Sunrise and sunset tables |
How we handle Indiana shoots
Our crew travels from our Detroit studio and works with contacts across the region. Our Part 107 pilots drive from the studio: Fort Wayne is about 158 miles and Indianapolis about 279. Travel is quoted with the project. Before we quote, we check the FAA grid for the address, the stadium and race calendar, Film Indy or Fort Wayne requirements and who controls the launch site. See our drone photography services, construction progress flights, or contact us with the address and date window.