UAS.OPEN.060 Responsibilities of the remote pilot

OBTAINING UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT ANY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS OR CONDITIONS PUBLISHED BY THE MEMBER STATE Information on airspace structure and limitations, including limited zones for UA or no-UA zones, will be provided by the MSs in accordance with Article 15 of the UAS Regulation.

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

(a)The remote pilot should observe the operating environment and check any conditions that might affect the UAS operation, such as the locations of people, property, vehicles, public roads, obstacles, aerodromes, critical infrastructure, and any other elements that may pose a risk to the safety of the UAS operation.

(b)Familiarisation with the environment and obstacles should be conducted, when possible, by walking around the area where the operation is intended to be performed.

(c)It should be verified that the weather conditions at the time when the operation starts and those that are expected for the entire period of the operation are compatible with those defined in the manufacturer’s manual.

(d)The remote pilot should be familiar with the operating environment and the light conditions, and make a reasonable effort to identify potential sources of electromagnetic energy, which may cause undesirable effects, such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) or physical damage to the operational equipment of the UAS.

UAS IN A SAFE CONDITION TO COMPLETE THE INTENDED FLIGHT The remote pilot should:

(a)update the UAS with data for the geo-awareness function if it is available on the UA;

(b)ensure that the UAS is fit to fly and complies with the instructions and limitations provided by the manufacturer, or the best practice in the case of a privately built UAS;

(c)ensure that any payload carried is properly secured and installed and that it respects the limits for the mass and CG of the UA;

(d)ensure that the charge of the battery of the UA is enough for the intended operation based on:

(1)the planned operation; and

(2)the need for extra energy in case of unpredictable events; and

(e)for UAS equipped with a loss-of-data-link recovery function, ensure that the recovery function allows a safe recovery of the UAS for the envisaged operation; for programmable loss-of-data-link recovery functions, the remote pilot may have to set up the parameters of this function to adapt it to the envisaged operation.

OTHER CAUSES ‘Other causes’ means any physical or mental disorder or any functional limitation of a sensory organ that would prevent the remote pilot from performing the operation safely.

VLOS RANGE

(a)The maximum distance of the UA from the remote pilot should depend on the size of the UA and on the environmental characteristics of the area (such as the visibility, presence of tall obstacles, etc.).

(b)The remote pilot should keep the UA at a distance such that they are always able to clearly see it and evaluate the distance of the UA from other obstacles. If the operation takes place in an area where there are no obstacles and the remote pilot has unobstructed visibility up to the horizon, the UA can be flown up to a distance such that the UA remain clearly visible. If there are obstacles, the distance should be reduced such that the remote pilot is able to evaluate the relative distance of the UA from that obstacle. Moreover, the UA should be kept low enough so that it is essentially ‘shielded’ by the obstacle, since manned aircraft normally fly higher than obstacles.

DISCONTINUATION OF THE FLIGHT IF THE OPERATION POSES A RISK TO OTHER AIRCRAFT The rules put an obligation on the remote pilot to maintain a thorough visual scan of the airspace to avoid any risk of a collision with manned aircraft. This means that the remote pilot is primarily responsible for avoiding collisions. The reason is that the manned aircraft pilot(s) may not be able to see the UA due to its small size. Therefore, the remote pilot should make an evaluation of the risk of collision and take appropriate action. As soon as the remote pilot sees another aircraft or a parachute or any other airspace user, they must immediately keep the UA at a safe distance from it and land if the UA is on a trajectory towards the other object. For example, if the remote pilot sees a manned aircraft flying at very high altitude (i.e. an en route flight at a height of 1 km or more), since the pilot will always keep the UA below 120 m, they can continue the operation. If the remote pilot observes an aircraft passing through the sky at a low altitude, at which it may interact with the UA, they need to immediately reduce the height of the UA (e.g. to less than 10 m above the ground) and keep the UA in an area that is far (not less than 500 m) from the other aircraft. If they cannot ensure such a distance, the UA needs to be immediately landed.

ABILITY TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE UA

(a)The remote pilot should:

(1)be focused on the operation of the UA, as appropriate;

(2)not operate a UA while operating a moving vehicle; and

(3)operate only one UA at a time.

(b)If the remote pilot operates a UA from a moving ground vehicle or boat, the speed of the vehicle should be slow enough for the remote pilot to maintain a VLOS of the UA, maintain control of the UA at all times and maintain situational awareness and orientation.

ABILITY TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE UA Autonomous operations are not allowed in the ‘open’ category, and the remote pilot must be able to take control of the UA at any time, except in the event of a lost-link condition or a free-flight UA.

FREE-FLIGHT UA ‘Free flight’ means performing flights with no external control, taking advantage of the ascending currents, dynamic winds and the performance of the model. Outdoor free flights are carried out with gliders or with models equipped with means of propulsion (e.g. rubber-bands, thermal engines) that raise them in altitude, before they freely glide and follow the air masses.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE DEFINITION ‘Emergency response’ is an action taken in response to an unexpected and dangerous event in an attempt to mitigate its impact on people, property or the environment.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE EFFORT When there is an emergency response effort taking place in the operational area of a UAS, the UAS operation should be immediately discontinued unless it was explicitly authorised by the responsible emergency response services. Otherwise, a safe distance must be maintained between the UA and the emergency response site so that the UA does not interfere with, or endanger, the activities of the emergency response services. The UAS operator should take particular care to not hinder possible aerial support and to protect the privacy rights of persons involved in the emergency event.

ROLE OF THE UA OBSERVER AND FIRST PERSON VIEW The remote pilot may be assisted by a UA observer helping them to keep the UA away from obstacles. The UA observer must be situated alongside the remote pilot in order to provide warnings to the remote pilot by supporting them in maintaining the required separation between the UA and any obstacle, including other air traffic. UA observers may also be used when the remote pilot conducts UAS operations in first-person view (FPV), which is a method used to control the UA with the aid of a visual system connected to the camera of the UA. In any case, including during FPV operations, the remote pilot is still responsible for the safety of the flight. As the UA observer is situated alongside the remote pilot and they must not use aided vision (e.g. binoculars), their purpose is not to extend the range of the UA beyond the VLOS distance from the remote pilot. Exceptions are emergency situations, for instance, if the pilot must perform an emergency landing far from the pilot’s position, and binoculars can assist the pilot in safely performing such a landing.