UAS/Drones – Exemption to minimum horizontal safety distance from uninvolved people in the OPEN “limited” subcategory A2

Article 21.06.2022

In accordance with article 71.1 of the Regulation 2018/1139 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the Directorate of Civil Aviation has granted an exemption to the unmanned aircraft (UAS/Drones) operating in the OPEN "limited" subcategory A2 as of June 20^th 2022.

The unmanned aircraft (UAS/Drones) concerned:

1. Have a mass between 500 gr et 2 kg and

2. Do not have a class label identification mark C2 (OPEN « Limited »).

The exemption granted allows a reduction of the minimal horizontal safety distance to:

a) 10m when the unmanned aircraft is operated in a slow flight mode with a maximum speed of 5m/s (18 km/h) and after evaluation of the weather conditions, the performance of the unmanned aircraft and the absence of uninvolved people in the area overflown ;

b) 30m when the unmanned aircraft is not operated in a slow flight mode (speed over 5 m/s).

Furthermore, the 1:1 rule (See section OPEN Category) remains applicable: the minimum horizontal safety distance is not less than the height of the operation.

A summary of the exemption is illustrated below:

Figure 1- Situation before the exemption

Figure 2- Situation with the exemption (since the 20 June 2022)

Figure 3 - Details of the exemption with the slow flight mode activated

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