ROC Holders - New Definitions and Swarming
The 25th amendment of the Civil Aviation Regulations has come into effect, making the distinctions between RPAS and UAS.
Why the change? ICAO Annex 6, Part 4 is applicable to RPAS that hold an Annex 8 Certificate of Airworthiness and are operated international, according to instrument flight rules, in unsegregated airspace and the terminology change was made differentiate between The South African Civil Aviation Regulations, Part 101 and Annex 6, Part 4 Operations.
We have summarised the some of significant of those changes below:
Definitions and Abbreviations
The following terms and definitions have been added to Part 1 of the CARs
?? “DRE” meaning Designated Remote Examiner,
?? “RPC” means Remote Pilot Certificate.
?? “UA” means unmanned aircraft.
?? “UAS” means unmanned aircraft system.
?? “UASLA” means unmanned letter of approval.
?? “UASMT” means unmanned system maintenance.
?? “UASOC” means unmanned aircraft system operating certificate.
?? “Unmanned Aircraft” means an aircraft that is intended to be operated with no pilot onboard.
?? “Unmanned Aircraft System” means an aircraft and its associated elements which are operated with no pilot on board.?
Other new and important definitions
The following definitions have also been added to Part 1:
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?? “Landowner Permission” means written permission issued, in compliance with a Municipal by-law, by an authorised land user, property title holder, lease holder, servitude holder, site manager or supervisor, building or structure owner, to an UAS operator to operate a UAS within a distance of 50m from a building or structure.
?? “Multi-Unmanned Aircraft Operations” Means an operation where two or more UA are controlled by one remote pilot station individually rather than collectively during flight.
?? “Swarming” Means an operation of more than one UAS controlled collectively by one remote pilot station rather than individually
Swarming
101.05.16A has been added to make provision for swarming and multi-unmanned aircraft operations.
101.05.16A Multi-Unmanned Aircraft Operations
101.05.16A (1) A person shall not operate a UAS in multi-unmanned aircraft operations or a swarm unless—
(a) such person is a holder of a UASOC and such operation is approved by the Director;
(b) a UAS is controlled by one RPS as approved by the Director; and
(c) a UAS is controlled using command inputs only.
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