The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a call on its website asking industry stakeholders to indicate what amendments they propose to make aviation rules more understandable and simpler, without compromising aviation safety.
In the case of the EU legal framework for unmanned aircraft systems (i.e., Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945), EASA is looking for the opinion of competent authorities, manufacturers, economic operators, and UAS operators.
The aim of the initiative is to simplify all areas of aviation, including drone rules, in order to allow the industry to grow with the entry of additional players. What are the simplifications that can lead to the fullest exploitation of the potential of drones?
– higher level of digitalisation,
– acceleration of authorisation procedures for low-risk specific category operations (up to SAIL II), and
– development of appropriate databases, knowledge sharing systems, and
– creation of a single market (e.g. cross-border operations, privileges of LUC holders).
EASA itself is also trying to lead the way in digitalisation: its Innovative Air Mobility HUB initiative shares a lot of useful information that helps operators in the industry. The website is a good example of knowledge sharing, but operators can also do a lot in this area: the flight experience they have gathered (especially the ratio of failures, extraordinary and emergency situations per flight hours) can help to clarify the safety expectations expected by SORA and the EU legal framework, possibly opening the way to wider operational possibilities for existing devices. In addition to the knowledge gained through this experience, it is equally important that operators provide properly validated data to the authorities and EASA. UAS operators can also play an important role in developing these validation procedures.
However, the call is not limited to the areas mentioned here; the EU agency welcomes all proposals, so domestic operators can have a direct impact on the future of EU regulations.