GM1 Article 6 Certified Category of UAS Operations

CAA ORS9 Decision No. 16

UAS OPERATIONS IN THE CERTIFIED CATEGORY

Article 6 should be read alongside UK Regulation (EU) 2019/945 Article 40.

Article 6 addresses UAS operations and UK Regulation (EU) 2019/945 Article 40 addresses the UAS itself. This separation was necessary to comply with UK Regulation (EU) 2018/1138 (the Basic Regulation), which sets out that the requirements for UAS operations and registration are in UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947, and that the technical requirements for UAS are in UK Regulation (EU) 2019/945. The reading of the two articles results in the following:

a) the transport of people is always in the Certified category. The UAS must be certified in accordance with Article 40 and the transport of people is one of the UAS operations identified in Article 6 as being in the Certified category;

b) flying over assemblies of people with a UA that has a characteristic dimension of less than 3m may be carried out in the Specific category unless one of the conditions outlined within ‘GM1 Article 3 Categories of UAS operations (b)’ is met; and

c) the transport of dangerous goods is in the Certified category if, following an accident, it would pose a high risk to third parties.

In addition, a UAS operation is deemed within the Certified category when, based on the safety risk assessment as detailed in Article 11, the competent authority considers that the safety risk cannot be mitigated adequately without it being operated within the Certified category.