UAS.STS-01.020 UAS operations in STS-01

(1)UAS operations in STS-01 shall meet all of the following conditions:

(a)be conducted with the unmanned aircraft kept in VLOS at all times;

(b)be conducted in accordance with the operations manual referred to in point (1) of point UAS.STS-01.030;

(c)be conducted over a controlled ground area comprising:

(i)for the operation of an untethered unmanned aircraft:

(A)the flight geography area;

(B)the contingency area, with its external limit(s) at least 10 m beyond the limit(s) of the flight geography area; and

(C)the ground risk buffer, which shall cover a distance beyond the external limit(s) of the contingency area that meets at least the following parameters:

(ii)for operation of a tethered unmanned aircraft, a radius equal to the tether length plus 5 m and centred on the point where the tether is fixed over the surface of the earth.

(d)be conducted at a ground speed of less than 5 m/s in the case of untethered unmanned aircraft;

(e)be conducted by a remote pilot who:

(i)holds a certificate of remote pilot theoretical knowledge in accordance with Attachment A to this Chapter for operations in the standard scenarios issued by the competent authority or by an entity designated by the competent authority of a Member State;

(ii)holds an accreditation of completion of the STS-01 practical skill training, in accordance with Attachment A to this Chapter and issued by:

(A)an entity that has declared compliance with the requirements in Appendix 3 and is recognised by the competent authority of a Member State; or

(B)an UAS operator that has declared to the competent authority of the Member State of registration, compliance with STS-01 and that has declared compliance with the requirements in Appendix 3; and

(f)be conducted with an unmanned aircraft which is marked as class C5 and complies with the requirements of that class, as defined in Part 16 of the Annex to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945, and is operated with active and updated direct remote identification system.

(2)The remote pilot shall obtain the certificate of theoretical knowledge for operations in the standard scenarios after:

(a)having completed an online training course and passed the online theoretical knowledge examination as referred to in point (4)(b) of point UAS.OPEN.020; and

(b)having passed an additional theoretical knowledge examination provided by the competent authority or by an entity designated by the competent authority of a Member State in accordance with Attachment A to this Chapter.

(3)This certificate shall be valid for five years. The revalidation, within its validity period is subject to any of the following:

(a)the demonstration of competencies in accordance with point (2);

(b)the completion of a refresher training addressing the theoretical knowledge subjects as defined in point (2) provided by the competent authority or by an entity designated by the competent authority.

(4)In order to revalidate the certificate upon its expiration, the remote pilot shall comply with point (2).