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MADLENNE TIMOFEJEV
TRINITI LAW FIRM LAWYER
madlenne.timofejev@triniti.ee
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (some of which are also known as drones) is becoming increasingly widespread, creating challenges in terms of both security and privacy. The development of drones and the associated concerns have also started to be addressed by the European Union, which has divided their operation into three categories.
On 01.07.2021, European Union Regulations 2019/947 and 2019/945 entered into force in Estonia, making the registration of drone operators mandatory. In addition, the regulations established EU-wide standards and procedures for the marking, identification and operation of unmanned aircraft systems.
Before introducing the categories of drone operation, it is useful to know that a drone operator is a legal or natural person who owns or leases a drone (or several drones), and a remote pilot is the person who actually flies the drone, i.e. controls the drone. A person can be both a drone operator and a remote pilot when flying an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, that is his or her own. However, a person can also be only a remote pilot, for example, operating a drone as an employee of a company providing security services. In this case, the company is the operator of the drone and the person working for the company is the remote pilot of the drone.
The regulations defined the modes and risks of operation of drones, dividing them into three categories.
Open category – open category operations are the lowest risk category, where the operator is not required to have a prior operating permit or notification. The open category includes flying a drone when all safety-critical operating conditions are met. The most important are:
- the maximum mass of the drone is less than 25 kg;
- the drone is within direct line of sight during flight;
- the drone is not more than 120 metres above the ground or water;
- no dangerous goods are carried or dropped from the flying drone (e.g. cargo) during flight; and
- the remote pilot keeps the drone at a safe distance from people and does not fly it over crowds.
Open category operations are further subdivided into three subcategories, A1, A2 and A3, according to the location and weight of the flight. Although open category drones do not have to be registered, operators must register (the register for Estonian operators is at lois.transportamet.ee). In addition, the adopted implementing regulation sets conditions for remote pilots of drones, who must hold a certificate of competence to operate a drone. In order to obtain the relevant certificate, for example, a remote pilot in subcategory A1 who uses a drone to take hobby photos must have read the instruction manual for the drone, consulted the online training materials and passed a multiple-choice exam.
You must register as an operator in your country of residence (in the case of a self-employed operator, in the country where the principal place of business is located), but you can also obtain the desired remote pilot rating in other Member States. In this way, the quality and price of the instructor can be taken into account, as well as the language of the training. For example, in cooperation with the Luxembourg Civil Aviation Authority and Eurocontrol, a free e-learning course in English has been developed to a very high standard and the certificate of competence obtained at the end of the exam is valid throughout Europe, including Estonia. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent e-training for the A1/A3 subcategory in Estonian yet, but the Transport Board’s website provides translation texts for the A1/A3 competency test in the Transport Board’s LOIS system.
Most drones weighing less than 25 kg qualify for the open category. It should be noted that there are currently no drones on the market with the Class C markings (C0 to C6) mentioned in the above-mentioned regulations. This means that all drones on sale today are “legacy drones”, which are subject to more restrictive conditions than those for drones with a Class C marking. The most important of these – the weight limit for the A2 subcategory of the legacy drone – is 1999g (instead of 3999g, which would apply to the C2 C class designation).
Thus, in the open category, the drone operator must register and the remote pilot must obtain a certificate of competence, but the person does not additionally need an operating licence or certificate.
Special category – if at least one of the conditions of the open category is not met, the operation is considered to be a higher risk operation and additional requirements corresponding to the risk level must be met. In order to ensure safety in the special category, in addition to registering as an operator, the drone operator must also apply for an operating licence from the national competent authority (in Estonia: the Transport Board). In order to obtain a permit, the drone operator must carry out a safety risk assessment, on the basis of which the requirements for the safe operation of drones can be determined. The risk assessment also determines whether the planned operation falls into a special or certified category.
Eligibility for a specific category must be assessed in the following cases, for example:
- a drone weighing more than 25 kilograms;
- you want to fly your drone above 120 metres above the ground or water;
- the drone is out of the pilot’s line of sight for the entire flight;
- operations take place in restricted airspace blocks.
In the future, when drones with the C-Class designation appear on the market, in many cases the simplest part of the special category, the standard scenarios, can be used. The standard scenarios describe the most common types of operation, which, if met, do not require the operator to obtain an operating licence. In this case, the safety risk assessment and the determination of the operating conditions have already been carried out and it is sufficient to declare to the competent authority (TRAM in Estonia) the suitability of the operations for the selected scenario.
Certified category – operating in a certified category is the highest risk, so particularly strict rules must be followed, such as drone operator and aircraft certification, special requirements for a remote pilot’s licence, etc. Examples of certified categories include flying over groups of people or transporting people or dangerous goods. For example, a drone transporting people, i.e. an air taxi, falls into the certified category.
If you are interested in this topic or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Madlenne Timofejev
TRINITI lawyer