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authorize 10 demonstration projects
aimed at exploring how remotely piloted
aircraft systems will be integrated
into the aviation community by 2016. 7
The SJU has established a May 31
deadline for demonstration project
proposals, including “integrated preoperational
flight trials activities.” The
projects, which will involve various
types and sizes of remotely piloted air
systems, must be performed in European
Union or Eurocontrol member states
between October 2013 and March 2015.
The EC said the development of
remotely piloted aircraft systems has
“opened a promising new chapter in the
history of aerospace.”
Civil aviation has yet to follow the
military in its widespread use of unmanned
aircraft, the EC said.
When it does, the EC added, unmanned
aircraft “can offer a wide range
of civil applications for the benefit of
European citizens and businesses. …
[The aircraft] can perform tasks that
manned systems cannot perform, either
for safety or for economic reasons.”
Among those tasks are longduration
monitoring, crisis management,
border control, fire fighting and
operations in clouds of volcanic ash,
the EC said. “RPAS can also deliver
profitable commercial aerial services
in various areas, such as in precision
agriculture and fisheries, power or gas
line monitoring, infrastructure inspection,
communications and broadcast
services, wireless communication relay
and satellite augmentation systems,
natural resources monitoring, media
and entertainment, digital mapping,
land and wildlife management, [and]
air quality control and management.”
‘Less Onerous’
In Australia, the Civil Aviation Safety
Authority (CASA) is planning the
gradual implementation of regulations
for remotely piloted aircraft.
Regulations will be proposed for
different categories of remotely piloted
aircraft, and authorities are considering
simplifying the certification process for
those that will be used in less complex
and less risky operations. In many
instances, non-binding guidance material
will be introduced first, followed by
adoption of regulations, CASA said.
In a February speech to the Association
for Unmanned Vehicle Systems
Australia, Director of Aviation Safety
John McCormick said that — because 90
percent of the remotely piloted aircraft
operated in Australia weigh less than
7 kg (15 lb) and because of their many
capabilities — “it is impossible for CASA
to effectively regulate all of them.”
Instead, McCormick said, “we have
to address the current reality. There is
no point in CASA writing regulations
that can’t be enforced. … Consequently,
CASA is now looking at introducing
a weight limit to make it less onerous
for commercial operators to use small
remotely piloted aircraft.”
The agency’s goal is to emphasize
safety throughout the development of
new regulations, McCormick said.
“This means ensuring the safety
of any other airspace user, as well as
the safety of persons and property on
the ground,” he said. “Development
of the complete regulatory framework
for remotely piloted aircraft will be a
lengthy effort. This is not a knee-jerk
reaction, it is an evolutionary process,
with regulations being added or
amended gradually.”
26 | FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION | AEROSAFETYWORLD | MAY 2013
Notes
1. ICAO. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS),
Cir 328. 2011.
2. Oklahoma Governor’s Unmanned
Aerial Systems Council. A Strategic Plan
for the Development of an Unmanned
Aerial Systems Enterprise in the State of
Oklahoma. 2012.
3. Governor’s Communications Office.
“Ohio Launches One-Stop Shop for
Unmanned Aircraft Efforts.” .
4. Jenkins, Darryl; Vasigh, Bijan. The
Economic Impact of Unmanned Aircraft
Systems Integration in the United States. A
special report prepared at the request of
AUVSI. March 2013.
5. ACLU. Blog of Rights: Domestic Drones.
.
6. AUVSI. “AUVSI Joins New Coalition to
Promote Innovation, Jobs and Safety.”
.
7. EC. “Aeronautic Industries: Remotely
Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS).” .
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