Murzilli Consulting’s regulatory newsletter for the latest in UAS, eVTOL & AAM/IAM updates.
The Easy Access Rules for U-space (EAR) combines:
🔸Regulation (EU) 2021/664 - the U-space Regulation which sets the regulatory framework for the U-space
🔸Regulation (EU) 2023/203 regarding information security
🔸ED Decision 2022/022/R using acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM)
The EAR for U-space is available to download for free from the EASA website and feedback is welcome via EASA’s contact us form.
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1107 has been published as a supplementing document to Regulation (EU) 2018/1139. It specifies detailed rules for continuing airworthiness of certified uncrewed aircraft systems and their components and the approval of the organisations and crew involved in such tasks.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1109 published the rules for Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 regarding competent authority requirements and the administrative procedures for the certification, oversight and enforcement of the continuing airworthiness of certified uncrewed aircraft systems and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/203.
The vote took place on May 13, 2024, and completes the 4 and a half year task force to modify and improve on SORA 2.0.
SORA 2.5 has some significant adaptations including:
🔸Updated main body, annexes B, E and I, in particular usability modifications such as clearer wording and document organisation
🔸New Annex A with guidelines on how to write an operator manual for the specific category and how to present a safety case to the authority
🔸New Annex F which contains a supporting quantitative ground risk model
🔸A formal update of a cyber annex to Annex E, with no content change
The SORA 2.5 documents will be officially released after the final formatting edit.
The Innovative Air Mobility Hub is a digital platform, first released in December 2023, designed to address the concerns of local citizens regarding air taxis and drones in European cities.
The second release contains:
🔸A new section on privacy and how the drone industry can approach citizens’ concerns regarding privacy using EU regulatory material. EASA has provided a hands-on guide in the form of a privacy handbook and operator checklists.
🔸An upgraded IAM Hub Members Area with new functionalities such as the Critical Area Calculator for Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) approvals and a pilot test for operational declarations.
The project is part of the European Commission Drone Strategy 2.0 and is funded by the European Commission and the European Parliament.
EASA’s Airworthiness Task Force (AW TF) under the UAS Technical Body (TeB) is developing a Means of Compliance to support SAIL III operations declarations of compliance with SORA operational safety objectives (OSOs), particularly focusing on the airworthy requirements of OSO#03 as per Regulation (EU) 2019/947.
Applicants who wish to use alternative standards to those proposed by the SAIL III MoC must contact their competent authority to be assessed by the AW TF, which may lead to further updates to the MoC.
Official comments can be submitted using the EASA Comment Response Tool (CRT).
This MoC provides guidance for applicants to meet the SC-Light UAS.2512 requirements for an M2 mitigation as described in Annex B, Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 947/2019.
It should be noted that the document is not suitable for a declarative process. While M2 mitigations can be used as support to increase the level of safety of an operation, they must not be considered as an alternative to a safe and reliable UAS design.
This means that strict criteria apply to M2 mitigations with a high level of robustness which considerably reduces the ground risk class (GRC).
The document has been presented in three chapters:
🔸Chapter 1: Nominal target for Special ConditionLight-UAS.2512 to meet M2 mitigation with high integrity
🔸Chapter 2: General Means of Compliance for Special Condition Light UAS.2512 to demonstrate M2 mitigation with high robustness
🔸Chapter 3: Transversal mitigation means requirements
On May 15, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 was passed to reinstate the Federal Aviation Administration until the 2028 Fiscal Year.
The reauthorisation requires the FAA to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for UAS BVLOS operations within four months. With this information, it can be expected that the regulation process for BVLOS flights within the United States will be accelerated.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1111 will come into effect on June 12th, 2024. It amends Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012, Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373, in particular establishing requirements for operating crewed aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capabilities.
The document covers amendments to:
🔸Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011
🔸The annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012
🔸Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012
🔸Annex II (Part-ARO) to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012
🔸Annex III (Part-ORO) to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012
🔸Annex V (Part-SPA) to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012
🔸Annex IX is added to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 containing subparts:
a) General Requirements
b) Operating Procedures
c) VTOL-Capable Aircraft (VCA) Performance and Operating Limitations
d) Instruments, Data and Equipment
The Drone Readiness Index (DRI) is a metric created by Drone Industry Insights to analyse and rank the regulatory developments within the drone industry.
The DRI considers factors such as operational scope, administrative infrastructure, airspace integration, social acceptance, human resources and the applicability of regulations.
For 2024, Australia leads with the top score of 72 out of 100 with Canada and Spain tied for second place, both with a score of 66. Switzerland, Poland and Germany have all made significant advances in comparison to the previous year, with all three countries making it into the top 10. Several new countries, including Columbia, Ireland, Malawi, Thailand and Vietnam have been added to the index.
The full report is available for purchase at droneii.com
Did we miss any news about drone regulations? Write to us, and we’ll add it to next month’s edition!
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Team Murzilli
