All professional drones (i.e., those weighing over 800 grams) must be certified to be authorized to fly. Both the manufacturer and the operator must therefore comply with certain technical and regulatory requirements before the DGAC (French Civil Aviation Authority) deems the aircraft airworthy.
The rules concerning aircraft certification
The certification process has two levels:
- Initially, the manufacturer submits the drone's technical specifications and specifies whether the drone will be used individually and/or in series production. The DGAC will then issue either a design certificate individual, i.e., a certificate of series design.
This certificate specifies, in particular, the operational scenarios (S-1, S-2, S-3, S-4) for which the approval is considered valid. This approval remains valid until the DGAC suspends or withdraws it.
- In a second step (when purchasing the aircraft), the aircraft operator must obtain from the DGAC a certificate of conformity. This authorization allows the operator to use the aircraft for their specific activities.
Any modification to the aircraft requires re-certification of the aircraft with the DGAC.
The technical requirements that allow a drone to be flight-capable
The approval of a drone allows the DGAC to guarantee the safety of third parties during the flight of this drone.
The technical performance of the drone is therefore extremely studied, particularly that relating to flight safety: safety system implemented, redundancy of drone subsystems, operational limitations of the manufacturer.
For example:
- For an S3 scenario and for an aircraft weighing more than 2kg, for safety reasons the drone must have a third-party protection device, such as a safety parachute in case of failure or unforeseen damage.
- For an S2 scenario, it will be required in particular that the aircraft equipment allow the recording of all data from the last 20 minutes of flight.
- For an S4, it will be required that in the event of an emergency landing, there be a real-time video feed from the drone's image capture equipment.
The second point that is closely examined concerns the operational procedures recommended by the manufacturer in the event of: emergency procedure, failure of a subsystem, reporting in the event of incidents, etc.
Rules concerning aircraft identification
All aircraft over 800g be registered by their owner on the Portal AlphaTango. The drone then receives an identification number which is valid for five years. Once obtained, this identification number must be affixed to the aircraft itself, via a plate which must be fireproof and legible to the naked eye from a minimum distance of 30 centimeters.
All aircraft weighing more than 25 kg must be registered in accordance with Article 6111-1 of the Transport Code.
The registration procedure is as follows: (i) Reservation of registration marks F-Dxxx with the DGAC-DTA; (ii) Registration of the aircraft on AlphaTango (UAS No. FR-xxxx); and (iii) Communication of the registration number to the registration office for the continuation of the registration procedure.
Requirements regarding the airworthiness of the drone
The DGAC is very careful to ensure that drone operators maintain the airworthiness of their aircraft.
Three points are particularly studied in case of control and/or problem: Pre-flight maintenance procedures, maintenance and overhaul procedures, subsystem replacement procedures (propeller, motor, battery, ESC, flight controller, etc.).
Requirements regarding drone geolocation
Since the 1er May 2020, All new aircraft must be equipped with a reporting system digital And bright. For reporting purposes, it is only required for aircraft operating night missions. For older aircraft, 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 50m) will require the implementation of markings for tethered aircraft.
What can the DRONECARE solution offer you for managing your drones?
As mentioned throughout the previous articles, Drone Geofencing, via its software DroneCARE, offers its users a centralized and intelligent management interface for all regulatory aspects related to the use of an aircraft.
The aircraft module was designed to allow the operator to centralize all important information and documents relating to an aircraft and to ensure that the operator's teams use the aircraft fleet in good condition.
