Professional drone certification, regulations and technical constraints

Any professional drone (Since December 26, 2018, any drone weighing more than 800 grams is considered a professional drone) must be certified and/or registered before being allowed to fly. To obtain this approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC), the manufacturer AND the operator must comply with certain technical and regulatory constraints before takeoff.

Professional drone certification is carried out in two stages.

• Initially, the drone manufacturer sends the drone's technical file to the DGAC (French Civil Aviation Authority). The DGAC specifies whether this multirotor drone will be used for individual purposes (a prototype civilian drone similar to those used in model aircraft) or for mass production (a drone marketed by a manufacturer without undergoing any structural or software changes). The DGAC will then provide the manufacturer with either a design certificate Individual certification, or a series design certificate. This certificate remains valid until the DGAC (French Civil Aviation Authority) suspends or withdraws it. You must have a copy of this document before operating drones.

• In a second stage (upon acquisition of the aircraft), the DGAC provides, upon request, a certificate of conformity. This certificate authorizes the operating company to fly its device for its specific activities (aerial photography, aerial video, filming, surveillance, infrastructure inspections, professional drone pilot training, etc.). These authorizations are required before flying a drone.

If the device is modified, it will be imperative to redo the DGAC approval.

The technical requirements for drone certification

The certification of a professional drone allows the DGAC (French Civil Aviation Authority) to improve the safety of third parties when the drone flies over inhabited areas (regulated airspace). The drone's technical performance is therefore thoroughly examined in relation to the operator's operational framework, particularly regarding flight safety: the safety system implemented, the redundancy of the drone's subsystems, and the manufacturer's operational limitations.

Drone certification based on scenarios

A drone, said to be approved (design certificate and certificate of conformity), is a drone that complies with current French aeronautical and air transport regulations.

This regulation outlines several flight scenarios (S1 (visual line-of-sight flight in an unpopulated area) – S2 (beyond visual line-of-sight flight within 1 km of the remote pilot in an unpopulated area) – S3 (visual line-of-sight flight in a populated area) – and/or S4 (beyond visual line-of-sight flight in an unpopulated area) – Specific Scenario) for professional drone pilots. A drone deemed compliant with scenario S1 is said to be S1-certified. A drone can comply with one or more flight scenarios. For example, it can be S1, S2, and S3-certified (the most common case). Its operating conditions may vary from one scenario to another.

• As an illustration, a drone that has received DGAC S1 approval must be equipped with a protective parachute.
• Furthermore, a drone that has received DGAC S3 approval must, during its flights in S3 scenario (visual line-of-sight flight in populated areas), be equipped with an external parachute (third-party protection device) for safety reasons in case of failure or unforeseen damage.
• For an S2 scenario, it is required that the drone's flight control board include a motor cutoff system and be able to record all data from the last 20 minutes of flight.
• For an S4 scenario, it is specifically required that in the event of an emergency landing, there be a real-time video feed from the drone's image capture equipment.

The purpose of certification is to ensure the safety of third parties in the event of a mechanical incident and/or pilot error. The operational procedures recommended by the manufacturer (emergency procedure, subsystem failure, incident reporting, etc.) are therefore closely examined and can only be strengthened by the operator in the various use cases of their drones.

The rules regarding the identification of your professional drone

It is mandatory that all drones weighing more than 800g be registered by their owner on the AlphaTango portal. The drone then receives an identification number that is valid for five years. Once obtained, this unique identification number must be affixed to the drone itself, using a plate that must be fireproof and legible to the naked eye from a distance of at least 30 centimeters from the device. This registration authorizes it to fly.

All drones weighing more than 25 kg must be registered in accordance with Article 6111-1 of the Transport and Air Navigation Code.

The registration procedure is as follows: (i) Reservation of registration marks F-Dxxx with the DGAC-DTA; (ii) Registration of the drone on AlphaTango (UAS No. FR-xxxx); and (iii) Communication of the registration number to the registration office for the remainder of the registration procedure. Please note that you must complete practical and theoretical training and obtain a drone remote pilot competency certificate before flying.

Requirements regarding the airworthiness of the drone

The DGAC is very attentive to ensuring that the drone operator ensures compliance with the airworthiness requirements for civil drones.

Thus, for each civilian drone, three points are particularly scrutinized in the event of an inspection and/or problem: pre-flight maintenance procedures, maintenance and overhaul procedures, and procedures for replacing subsystems (propeller, motor, battery, ESC, flight controller, etc.). It is worth noting here that DJI (the world leader in drone manufacturing) is not very effective in this area (most likely due to a lack of clear documentation, as it primarily targets the recreational drone market).

Requirements regarding drone geolocation

Since the 1^er May 2020, All new civilian drones (fixed-wing aircraft, quadcopter or hexacopter multirotors, helicopters, balloons/airships, or any small ultralight aircraft) must be equipped with a digital and visual signaling device.. The use of lights is exclusively required for civilian drones operating at night. For older drones, this requirement will be effective from November 1, 2020.

These rules must allow for the geolocation of a drone at any time, regardless of the situation (flight in progress, malfunction, crash, deviation from the flight plan, etc.). Similarly, certain flight conditions (day or night flight, maximum flight altitude exceeding 50 meters, overflight of certain prohibited areas) will require the implementation of markings for tethered drones.

What can the GESTADRONE solution offer you for managing your drones?

As mentioned throughout the previous articles, Drone Geofencing, via its software GESTADRONE, The system offers its users a centralized and intelligent management interface for all regulatory aspects related to the use of a professional drone. The Aircraft module was designed to allow operators to centralize all important information and documents related to a drone and ensure that their teams use their fleet of drones under optimal conditions.

Do you want to get your drone certified? Don't want to handle the administrative procedures yourself? GESTADRONE offers professional drone certification services. We'll need to define together the scenarios for which you require certification.

For each type approval, you will receive a certificate of conformity, a type design certificate, and maintenance and operating manuals for your aircraft, tailored to scenarios S1, S2, S3, and S4. You will also receive a follow-up certificate. Contact us to learn more about GESTADRONE.