EASA Publishes Proposed Standards for Certification of Light Drones

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a proposal of standards for the certification of light unmanned aircraft, which will greatly contribute to the safe operation of service drones, used for example for parcel delivery in urban environments, railways and power lines inspection or delivery of essential supplies into crisis zones.

The approach for the proposed standards, known as Special Condition Light UAS, is a recurrent theme in EASA’s rulemaking process: Through an objective-based, operation centric approach to UAS certification, EASA strives to remain flexible in a rapidly developing technical environment.

The proposed standards will be applicable to unmanned aircraft under 600 kg operated in the specific or certified category in accordance with regulation (EU) 2019/947. Although the Special Condition addresses airworthiness specifications for UAS, not the authorization of operations, the standards will still become important during an authorization process: Ultimately, in some operations in the specific category, UAS operators have to demonstrate the certification of their UAV by EASA to the national aviation authorities.

The proposed standards are now open for public consultation until September 30, 2020.

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