The path from the creation of the application forms to the approval of drone operation in the special category should be made as quick and simple as possible. There is broad consensus on this between the UAS industry and regulatory authorities in Europe. However, there is still a need for discussion on how this can be achieved. Nevertheless, there is widespread agreement that standardized procedures and processes can be a valuable aid. Such as the so-called Pre-Defined Risk Assessments (PDRA).
But what is intended as comprehensive support is apparently only seen as such to a limited extent in practice. As a result, many applicants value the advantages associated with an individual SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment) application higher than the simplifications that come with the use of a standardized PDRA with its rather specific requirements profile. In short, it often seems more attractive to describe your own procedures than to fit your own procedures into the framework of a PDRA - and then describe them in an operations manual. This increases the workload for both applicants and approvers.
One of the aims of the Working Group Safety Risk Management (WG-SRM) of the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) is to create a new offering in this context. Under the direction of Jörg Dittrich, the JARUS STS-02 - accepted by the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA as PDRA G-02 - was therefore subject to a revision. In addition to necessary adjustments to the new SORA version 2.5, the main focus was on a new conceptual approach to make PDRAs more attractive in the future. This includes a modular, ready-made operations manual that “only” needs to be supplemented with the individual characteristics of the UAS mission to be approved. This can help to speed up the application process.
The comment period, during which the industry can contribute to the ongoing process, runs until November 18: http://jarus-rpas.org/document/jarus-wg-srm-pdra-02/
UAV DACH will participate in the commenting process via its specialist groups. Not least because, according to the WG-SRM, the system of the revised PDRA should serve as a blueprint for both the revision of existing and the creation of new Pre-Defined Risk Assessments.
Picture: Wingcopter