Another CAA Consultation...have your say again!

It seems not a month goes by at the moment without a CAA Consultation. The last consultation was an initial information gathering one, the CAA have used the initial respones to shape their proposals for the new laws. They have also produced a document summarising the responses they recieved and how they have interpreted them. I would say in general they have gone with the consensus but there’s a couple of areas where it looks like they’ve gone another direction for reasons beyond our control or understanding.

This consultation seems to build on that with actual proposals for changes to the law, so please please take an hour to read to document over the Christmas break and have your say before 10th January:

Click here to go straight to it (https://consultations.caa.co.uk/rpas/review-of-uk-uas-regulations-consultation/)

Minimum Remote Pilot Age Requirement - Update

Just a quick update on our previous post covering the Generic rules of the Open Category.

If you remember, in this post we had identified that the CAA were likely to reduce the age requirements from the generic EU rules in order to align with the current situation in the open category (i.e. 13 years) and they will reduce it for the Specific category to 14 years.

They have actually gone a step further and removed the age requirements in these two categories altogether.

That means Articles 9 and 9A of the UAS Implementing Regulation (EU 2019/947) have been deleted completely so there is no minimum age for remote pilots in the Open or Specific categories. One important note, however, is that there remain the requirements for competency (therefore inherently you couldn’t expect a toddler to gain an A2CofC for example) AND the age requirements for Operators remains (i.e. 18 years old).

Happy Flying All!

Quick Overview of Generic Rules for ALL Flights in Open Category (for Non CE Marked / Legacy Drones only).

Here’s an extract of rules from the Air Navigation Order that apply to ALL drone flights:

• Article 240 - must not recklessly or negligently act in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or a person within an aircraft.

• Article 241 - a person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft (manned or unmanned) to endanger any person or property (which includes other aircraft and their occupants) – also includes vehicles

• Operator - 18 years (Except <250g private and toys – no min age) and registered

• Article 94A – No flights within restricted airspace (Restricted Areas, Danger Areas, FRZs) without relevant permission.

Here’s an extract of Guidance from CAP 722 that apply to ALL drone flights:

• UAS operators must be aware of their responsibilities regarding operations from private land and any requirements to obtain the appropriate permission before operating from a particular site.

• Observe the relevant trespass laws and do not unwittingly commit a trespass whilst conducting a flight

• Third party cover required iaw (EC)785/2004 unless recreational or sporting

• Must not perform their duties while under the influence of psychoactive substances or alcohol or when they are unfit to perform their tasks due to injury, fatigue, medication, sickness or other causes (see 4.2.6 and 4.2.7 below for further details)

• Remote pilots must not fly when they are unfit to perform their tasks due to injury, fatigue, medication, sickness or ‘other causes’.

• Ensure that all information regarding the airspace within which the flight will take place has been checked and updated, and any relevant clearances or authorisations have been obtained.

• Ensure that the operating environment is compatible with the intended flight (weather conditions, electromagnetic energy conditions, survey of obstacles, uninvolved persons, critical infrastructure etc).

• Ensure that the UAS is in a serviceable condition to complete the intended flight as planned. This includes:

  • updating any relevant geo-awareness data;

  • the completion of any specified pre-flight checks;

  • ensuring that the UA has sufficient fuel to complete the planned operation with any suitable reserve needed to cater for contingencies; Note: the term “fuel” is intended to include all sources of energy for UA, to include (but not limited to) petroleum based, solar, battery or any future source that provides energy to the UA.

  • The checking and, if necessary, programming of any lost C2 Link, return to home, or other emergency recovery function to confirm its serviceability;

  • the security of any payloads fitted to the UA;

  • the operation of any lighting and/or remote identification systems.

• While the UA is in flight, remote pilots must:

  • Comply with the operational limitations that are applicable to the operating category that the UA is being flown in;

  • Avoid any risk of collision with other aircraft and discontinue the flight if it may pose a risk to other aircraft, persons, environment or property;

  • Comply with the operational limitations regarding to any airspace reservations, Flight Restriction Zones or other UAS related geographical zones that are within or close to the area that the UA is being flown in;

  • Comply with the operating procedures that are set out by the UAS operator;

  • Ensure that the UA is not flown close to or inside any areas where an emergency response effort is ongoing, unless they have permission to do so from the responsible emergency response personnel.

• If more than one remote pilot is employed, the UAS operator should:

  • develop and produce procedures in order to coordinate the activities between its employees; and

  • establish and maintain a list of their personnel and their assigned duties.

• UAS Operator

  • ensure personnel are provided with all information related to any geographical zones that are relevant to the UAS.

  • ensure that any applicable geo-awareness systems are up to date.

  • ensure that all involved persons have been informed of the risks and have explicitly agreed to participate.

Remember, this is just a snapshot. Please refer to https://www.caa.co.uk/consumers/unmanned-aircraft-and-drones/ for more details and additional rules that apply. Don’t forget you can use our noflydrones map to see geographical restrictions!

CAP 1789 April Update

While I know it’s June and this update was issued in April, I wanted to set myself a baseline of knowledge before I delved into the CAA CAP1789 update so I pressed on with the drone regulations as they were and then decided I’d go back and review this. The CAA has clarified many things in the recent update to CAP1789 and I just wanted to take an opportunity to highlight the parts I found most interesting:

• The installation of a camera in/on the aircraft has no effect on the Class of the aircraft.

  • I was already aware of this but I think it would’ve been good to clarify here in CAP1789 that operators of unmanned aircraft should be registered if they operate an unmanned aircraft which is equipped with a sensor able to capture personal data (See Article 14)

• From 1 July 2022 onwards, Open category unmanned aircraft that are placed on the EU market (i.e. new products introduced for sale in Europe) must comply with the product standards and be marked with the appropriate class Number (C0 to C4)

  • I had missed this point but have updated the blog post now to include it.

• Maximum Take-Off Weight for aircraft without Class Marking can be taken as Flying Weight

  • I always thought this was a bit strange as legacy aircraft don’t really declare an MTOW and also how would a person determine the MTOW of a home built aircraft. Thankfully the CAA have clarified their position on this

• Standard Scenarios (STS) STS will not become applicable until January 2022 at the earliest. UK will not be implementing STS and operators should not consider their use any further.

  • One of the biggest shocks for me, I previously expected PDRAs and STSs to have an equal footing in the UK market. But due to the potential effects of Brexit and time period before they can be used, the CAA has quite rightly decided not to prioritize these.

• Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC) will be implemented in the UK

  • I haven’t covered LUC yet and I’m glad I hadn’t because the CAA has weighed up the benefits of getting the process and governance in place for LUCs and have decided to point operators down the route of OAs for the time being instead.

• Lighting - recent amendments to the IR and DR have introduced the concept of a green flashing light being fitted to unmanned aircraft for nighttime conspicuity.

  • This wasn’t clear before and it is great to see this clarification as otherwise, each manufacturer could have gone there own way in meeting this requirement.

Pre Defined Risk Assessments (PDRA)

This is a fairly short post just to introduce the concept of the PDRA. PDRAs are not stipulated in EU law like the other areas I’ve covered. PDRAs have been created by the UK CAA. They sit somewhere between a full Specific Operational Risk Assessment (SORA) required for an Operational Authorisation (OA) and a Declaration to a Standard Scenario (STS). Like an STS, they consist of pre-completed risk assessments, however, they have been done by the CAA rather than the EU. The UK CAA will allow you to apply for an OA with a lesser amount of documentation. The PDRAs will contain the risk mitigation measures that the CAA requires you to adhere to in order to minimize the risk. These will be published in CAP722. The first one (UKPDRA01) will align with the current PfCO permissions and requirements. EASA is also publishing PDRA’s, these are documented in the AMC to the IR.

I’ve been trying to understand why we have PDRAs vs STSs. I guess both have the benefit of reduced paperwork but I think the STSs are quite rigid, being set in law. STS also has a set scope that has been set out in law too (see previous posts on specific here). So I think the benefit of PDRAs really comes from giving the regulator much more flexibility to set their own boundaries.

Certified Operations Overview

Believe it or not the number of rules in the IR and DR on certified aircraft and operations are much less. This is because essentially anything to be certified must meet the same applicable rules and requirements set for manned aircraft which have already been established and therefore these are just referenced rather than repeated.

Which aircraft and operations fall into the certified category?

• The drone has dimension of 3 m or more and is designed to be operated over assemblies of people

• The drone is designed for transporting people

• The drone is designed for the purpose of transporting dangerous goods and requiring a high level of robustness to mitigate the risks for third parties in case of an accident

It should be noted that certified aircraft don’t necessarily have to be flow in certified operations. That is, flights in the specific category may have a degree of risk that can only be mitigated if they use a Certified aircraft. In this scenario, the drone is certified but the operation is specific. The drone must feature the technical capability dictated by the requirements of the specific operation (these would be set out in the OA or STS)

What rules apply to certified aircraft?

A UAS subject to certification shall comply with the applicable requirements set out in:

• (EU) No 748/2012 (airworthiness and environmental certification of aircraft, their parts, products, appliances and certification of design and production organisations)

• (EU) 2015/640 (additional airworthiness specifications for a given type of operations)

• (EU) No 1321/2014 (continuing airworthiness of aircraft and approval of organisations and personnel involved in these tasks)

In addition to the above, all certified unmanned aircraft must be registered with the state registration system. Details to be recorded include manufacturer's name, designation of the unmanned aircraft; serial number; full name, address, email address and telephone number of the natural or legal person under whose same the unmanned aircraft is registered. The same can be said for the operator of the certified aircraft.

What rules apply to certified operations?

Operations subject to certification shall be subject to the applicable operational requirements laid down in:

• (EU) No 923/2012 of 26 September 2012 laying down the common rules of the air and operational provisions regarding services and procedures in air navigation

• (EU) No 965/2012 of 5 October 2012 laying down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operations

• (EU) No 1332/2011 of 16 December 2011 laying down common airspace usage requirements and operating procedures for airborne collision avoidance

In essence, operators and aircraft must have a certification and remote pilots will require official licenses. Unlike the current CAA Permissions for Commercial Operations, these will be Licenses like manned aircraft pilots hold.

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Specific Operations Competency Requirements

The competency of flights in the Specific Category will be determined by the risk assessment or the STS. This could range from a level of competency as defined in the Open Categories (such as the S2 CofC) through the requirements of a Certified operation pilot. In the middle ground, the UK has also introduced the GVC (General VLOS Certificate).

GVC (General VLOS Certificate)

The GVC provides a Remote Pilot Competency Certificate which provides a single qualification that is suitable for most VLOS operations within the Specific category. Additional modules may be added, currently, there is one: GVC Module 1 – BVLOS of Remote Pilot but utilising Visual Observers (i.e. EVLOS). There are both theoretical and practical aspects and it is to be conducted with an RAE (previously an NQE). It is valid for 5 years. Operators wishing to obtain this must fulfill some pre-requisites:

• Some may be exempt from theory – these will be in CAP 722.

• Obtain Basic Remote Pilot Competency – i.e. completion of CAA’s DMARES online training

• Hold a Flyer ID

GVC Theory Test

It will consist of 40 Questions, Closed Book and Multiple Choice/Long Answer/Mixed questions. The duration of the exam will be determined by the RAE. The exam will specifically cover:

• Air law/responsibilities;

• UAS airspace operating principles;

• Airmanship and aviation safety

The GVC theoretical examination may also include the A2 CofC examination in one sitting, but the examination must be expanded to 60 questions.

GVC Practical Test

This requires a practical demonstration of the pilot ability to comply with Operations Manual and STS or PDRA (I’ll cover the PDRA separately in another post). The test will be conducted outdoors and the RAE define pass/fail criteria. The test will specifically cover:

• Pre-flight Actions

• In-Flight Procedures

• Post Flight Actions

For the GVC Module 1 this will additionally include:

• BVLOS Operations with Visual Mitigation – General

• Pre flight Actions

• In Flight Procedures (with Visual Observer)

• Post Flight Actions (without Visual Observer)

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Operator and Remote Pilot Responsibilities in the Specific Category

Operator Responsibiltiies

The Operator is responsible for establishing:

• operational procedures to ensure the safety of the operations

• procedures to ensure that security requirements are complied

• measures to protect against unlawful interference and unauthorised access

• comply with regulations on personal data and carry out data protection IA when required

• guidelines for RPs to minimise nuisances, including noise, to people and animals

• each individual aircraft shall be installed with at least one green flashing light (from 1 January 2022)

• Record Keeping (maintenance, staff, qualifications etc.)

The Operator must designate an RP for each operation and If autonomous flight is planned then they shall detail phases of operation and responsibilities. They are also responsible for ensuring efficient use of radio spectrum in order to avoid harmful interference. When designating an RP, they must ensure each RP:

• Competent (as dictated by OA or STS)

• Follows competency-based training and as required by OA or STS Declaration

• Is informed on operations manual if required by RA

• Obtain geo zone information

When involving other staff as part of the crew, they must ensure:

• Completed OJTI

• Is informed on operations manual if required by RA

• Obtain geo zone information

The operator must ensure operations are carried out and records kept i.a.w the OA or STS Declaration. They must also only use drones designed to minimise noise and other emissions, ensure failure will not lead UAS to flying outside the designated operational volume or cause a fatality and the MMI (Man Machine Interface) shall minimise pilot error and not cause unreasonable fatigue. Finally they must define maintenance instructions and employ adequately trained maintenance staff.

Remote Pilot Responsibilities

Not everything is on the Operator, the RP also has responsibilities to ensure the operation is safe. They must only operate when fit to do so, i.e. not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They must hold appropriate competency as required by OA or STS Declaration. To ensure the flight complies with the operational volume requirements they must ensure they obtain geo zone information and ensure the environment is compatible with OA or STS Declaration. They must ensure the UAS is safe and check Remote ID is working. All relevant information about the operation should be made available to the ANSPs, Airspace Users and other Stakeholders as required by OA or geo zone requirements. During flight, they must avoid any risk of collision with other aircraft, objects etc, and remain clear of emergency response areas and of course, comply with the OA or STS Declaration, Geo zone limitations, and Operator procedures.

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Third Country Operators

Third country operators are those operators outside of the EU who wish to operate within Single European Sky airspace.

• UAS operators that have their principal place of business, are established, or reside in a third country, shall comply with all the rules documented in the IR

• The competent authority for the third-country UAS operator shall be the competent authority of the first Member State where the UAS operator intends to operate

• Competency from 3rd country is valid if the Commission, after consultation of EASA, has ensured that the requirements on the basis of which such certificates have been issued provide the same level of safety as this Regulation

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Specific Operations

Summary

Specific Operations are those that can’t comply with the measures set out in the Open Category, but the risk is not high enough to sit in the Certified Category. All flights must comply with the applicable “Standardised European Rules of the Air Regulation” 932/2012 however the CAA have clarified this will not apply to VLOS flights. All operators in the Specific Category must be registered. Risk mitigations measures required are determined by a risk assessment that can be either conducted for the specific operation and submitted to the CAA for an Operational Authorisation Or generically as part of the Standard Scenarios (STS) submitted to the CAA as an Operational Declaration. Operators must be 18 years or over.

Standard Scenarios for Operational Declarations

These are documented in the annex of the IR. At the time of writing, there were not yet published, but they are expected to be in relation to the following:

• drone with maximum dimension up to 3 metres in VLOS over controlled ground area except over assemblies of people

• drones with maximum dimension up to 1 metre in VLOS except over assemblies of people;

• drones with maximum dimension up to 1 metre in BVLOS over sparsely populated areas;

• drones with maximum dimension up to 3 metres in BVLOS over controlled ground area.

• Operations performed below 120m from the surface in Uncontrolled Airspace or Controlled Airspace after coordination and authorisation i.a.w procedures for that area

When submitting a declaration against an STS to the CAA it shall contain:

• Admin info on UAS operator

• A statement that operation satisfied requirements or point 1 and STS

• Commitment to comply with mitigation measures (including. Operation, design, competency)

• Confirmation that insurance will be in place

Once the CAA respond confirming receipt and completeness then the operation can begin, an Operational Authorisation is not required.

Operational Authorisations

If the flight doesn’t fit an STS then an OA will be required. An operator seeking an OA will need to submit the following:

• Operational Risk Assessment (as per article 11) - it should be noted that CAA are not accepting any SORA (specific operational risk assessments) until after 31st December 2020.

• Registration number

• Accountable manager

• Mitigation measures to allow the authority to assess the efficacy

• Confirmation that insurance will be in place

CAA will then issue the OA when happy all information is provided and that a procedure is in place for coordination with ANSP (if operation crosses within controlled airspace) and they can conclude from the information that:

• Safety objectives take account of risks

• Mitigation measures are adequate (ground and air)

• The operator has stated compliance with any privacy, data protection, liability, insurance, security and environmental protection rules

OAs are non-transferable and validity is determined on the OA itself by the competent authority. An OA may be for a single or number of operations in a specified time or location or both.

Aircraft Classes

The next update to the DR is expected to include two new UAS Classes (C5 and C6). This are for flying under the STS’s to be published. However as the CAA are not currently planning on following these I will not say any more about them here.

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Other rules of the Delegated Regulation

There are so many other rules documented in the DR but as a drone operator, I don’t need to know these in too much detail. I’ve read them but I don’t think it’s worth my time to understand them in detail. However, for future reference the following is a list of the areas I’ve not covered (or do not intend to cover) in this Blog:

SECTION 3 Conformity of the product

• Article 12 Presumption of conformity

• Article 13 Conformity Assessment Procedures

• Article 14 EU declaration of conformity

• Article 15 General principles of the CE marking

• Article 16 Rules and conditions for affixing the CE marking, the identification number of the notified body, the UAS class identification label and the indication of the sound power level

• Article 17 Technical documentation

SECTION 4 Notification of conformity assessment bodies

• Article 18 Notification

• Article 19 Notifying authorities

• Article 20 Requirements relating to notifying authorities

• Article 21 Information obligation on notifying authorities

• Article 22 Requirements relating to notified bodies

• Article 23 Presumption of conformity of notified bodies

• Article 24 Subsidiaries of and subcontracting by notified bodies

• Article 25 Application for notification

• Article 26 Notification procedure

• Article 27 Identification numbers and lists of notified bodies

• Article 28 Changes to notifications

• Article 29 Challenge of the competence of notified bodies

• Article 30 Operational obligations of notified bodies

• Article 31 Appeal against decisions of notified bodies

• Article 32 Information obligation on notified bodies Article

• 33 Exchange of experience

• Article 34 Coordination of notified bodies

SECTION 5 Union market surveillance, control of products entering the Union market and Union safeguard procedure

• Article 35 Market surveillance and control of products entering the Union market

• Article 36 Procedure for dealing with products presenting a risk at the national level

• Article 37 Union safeguard procedure

• Article 38 Compliant product which presents a risk

• Article 39 Formal non-compliance

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Importer and Distributor Obligations

The requirements don’t stop at the manufacturer, the new delegated regulation puts some onus and responsibility on the Importer too:

• Ensure manufacturer has completed their obligations (e.g. labeling, CE Marking etc.)

• Provide trading name, address, website etc on product, packaging or accompanying documentation

• Ensure while under their responsibility it is stored and transported such that it doesn’t jeopardise compliance

• Where appropriate (with regards to the risks of the product) carry out sample testing

• Keep copies of Declaration of Conformity for 10 years

• Take corrective actions when known to not be compliant and respond to audits

Distributor obligations are largely the same (except the need for adding trading name and details), however, if a product is placed on the market under the trading name of a distributor then they take on the responsibility of fulfilling the manufacturer obligations.

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Manufacturer Obligations

Current regulations for selling in europe are quite exhaustive in terms of product safety but don’t specifically cover drones. The classes I have previously covered fills that gap and will form part of the requirements to CE mark drones to be sold in the EU. The following are the responsibilities of the Manufacturer in respect to drones they sell:

• Ensure software, design or characteristic changes are only be issued if they don’t affect compliance with the DR

• Ensure compliance with the DR, provide technical information and conformity assessment

• Produce Declaration of Conformity and CE Marking and they should keep this for 10 years

• Put procedures in place to ensure series production remain compliant

• Ensure drone / remote ID add on has the type/class (drone only) and unique serial number

• Provide trading name, address, website etc on product, packaging or accompanying documentation

• Ensure product has User Manual and EASA Information notice in language that can be understood

• Take corrective actions when known to not be compliant and respond to audits

• They may delegate certain aspects of this to an Authorised Representative (i.e. data retention, audits, and/or non-conformity actions).

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

Remote ID Add On Requirements

There’s really little difference between the requirements of a remote ID system already built into a drone vs the requirements of a separate add on remote ID device. Here’s a reminder:

The Remote ID shall work in realtime and with direct periodic broadcast (using open and documented protocol that can be received directly by existing mobile devices within range) of the following:

• the UAS operator registration number

• ANSI/CTA-2063 serial number

• the geographical position and height above the surface or take-off point

• true course and ground speed

• the geographical position of the remote pilot or, if not available, the take-off point;

It shall also prevent user from modifying last 4 bullets above.

The following is the key difference, a remote Add on should have a user manual with transmission protocol details and instructions to:

• Install on the drone

• change operator registration number

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.

C0/1/2/3/4 Drone and Open Category Mapping Summary

I’ve created a high level summary table which compares the rules applicable to each Class drone side by side. The parts in bold identify key differences I’ve spotted in the regulation. I’ve also mapped the Open Categories at the top of the table.

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.