Change in the air for remotely piloted aircraft

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CASA has published its notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) about changes to the regulations governing remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). Interested people and organisations have until June 16 to give CASA their response.

The changes to Civil Aviation Safety Regulation Part 101 relate to RPA used for commercial operations, but not model aircraft used for recreation.

The NPRM establishes a revised risk-based framework for regulating RPA operations.  A key part of this is acknowledging a low risk class of RPA operations, for small RPA with a gross weight of 2 kg or less that are operated under a restricted set of operating conditions.

For these RPA operations, CASA proposes that there will be no requirement for a Remote Pilot (RP) Certificate or an Unmanned Aircraft System Operator’s Certificate (UOC).

The NPRM says: ‘The general consensus is that RPA with a gross weight of 2 kg and below have a very low kinetic energy, pose very little risk to aviation and have a low potential for harm to people and property on the ground and other airspace users.’

However, RPA with a gross weight above 2 kg in all operating conditions, and all RPA operating outside of the standard RPA operating conditions, will still require operational approval.

The NPRM can be found here.