If your drone does not fit into any of the open category classes, you may fall into the specific category. What this category entails, what are the limitations and EASA regulations in force, you will find out by following this article.
Specific category
If your drone does not fall into the open category and the risk involved in operating the UAS is medium, then your drone falls into the specific category. If the risk of operating the drone is high, then we are talking about operations belonging to the certified category.
Situations in which the drone is operated in the specific category:
- the UAS flies higher than 120 m above ground level,
- has a maximum take-off weight of more than 25 kg,
- fly beyond the pilot’s visual range (BVLOS – Beyond Visual Line Of Sight),
- if it carries packages,
- the drone is operated in an urban environment with a maximum take-off weight greater than 4 kg or without a class identification tag (how to get a class identification tag for your Mavic 3 E or Matrice 30 drone).
Registration to operate the drone in the specific category
If you operate a drone in the specific category, you must register as a UAS operator with the national aviation authority in the country where you are domiciled (if you are an individual) or where you have your principal place of business if you are a legal entity. In Romania, operators can register on the website of the Romanian Civil Aviation Authority, drone section.
However, the good news is that if you are already registered as a drone operator (for example because you are registered to operate in the open category), no additional registration is required to fly in the specific category.
How do you fly in the specific category and what do you need?
The categories in which a drone can be flown are classified according to the risk posed by the mission. Thus, low-risk operations fall into the open category, medium-risk ones into the specific category, and high-risk operations into the certified category.
To fly in the specific category, check that your operation falls within a standard scenario (STS). If applicable, you do not need an authorisation, but you must submit a declaration to the National Aviation Authority. A standard scenario (STS) is an operation defined in the Annexes to the drone regulation (EU Regulation 2019/947). You must use a drone marked with the appropriate class identification tag (5 or 6). After submitting the declaration to the National Aviation Authority, you will receive confirmation of receipt and completeness from the National Aviation Authority and operate within the limitations of the standard scenario.
Otherwise, there are other ways a drone operator can fly in the specific category:
- An operational authorization by performing a risk assessment of the intended operation using a risk assessment methodology
One possible method is the SORA (specific operational risk assessment) which you can find in annex AMC1, article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/947. This methodology helps identify the level of risk of the operation and identify the mitigations and operational safety objectives needed to ensure the safety of the operation.
When the drone operator considers that it has implemented satisfactory measures to ensure the safety of the operation, it submits all information to the National Aviation Authority and applies for an operating permit. When the National Aviation Authority is satisfied, it gives the drone operator the authorization and the operation can be started;
- An operating authorization through a predefined risk assessment (PDRA)
This comes as a simplification for the risk assessment. For those operations that will be most frequent in Europe, EASA will carry out the risk assessment and publish, as an acceptable means of compliance with the drone regulation, the list of actions that the drone operator must implement to carry out the operation safely .
An authorization application to the National Aviation Authority is still required, but both the drone operator and the National Aviation Authority will benefit from the standardized measures defined in the PDRA. PDRAs are published by EASA in the AMC annex according to article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/947; several scenarios are already under development.
- Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC)
It is a voluntary certification, after which the National Aviation Authority can allocate some privileges to the drone operator.
Drone operators can ask the National Aviation Authority to assess their organization to determine whether they are able to assess the risk of an operation. The requirements to be demonstrated by drone operators are defined in Part C of Regulation (EU) 2019/947. When the National Aviation Authority is satisfied, it will issue a Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC) and allocate privileges to drone operators based on their maturity level.
Privileges can be one or more of the following:
- To carry out operations covered by standard scenarios without submitting a declaration;
- To self-authorize drone operator operations covered by a PDRA without requiring an authorization.
- To self-authorize all operations performed by the drone operator without requesting an authorization.
You can find out more details about the options by which an authorization can be obtained here.
How many flights can I make on the basis of a single operational authorization?
Fortunately, once the operational authorization is obtained, in most cases an unlimited number of flights can be flown in the area for which the authorization was obtained without other authorizations. However, this may change if the AACR limits the number of flights in the operational authorization or if the operator flies into a ROMATSA geographic area, in which case you will need a flight authorization independent of the operational authorization.
Remote drone identification
From January 1, 2024, all drones that are operated in the specific category must be equipped with a remote identification system. The list of manufacturers offering modules providing a direct remote identification system can be found on the EASA website and includes manufacturers such as Aerobits, Bluemark or Involi.
The information was taken from the official EASA website.
Conclusion
The specific category is the category in which you can carry out drone operations that present a medium risk and that do not fall into the open category. There are some things that are worth taking into account when you think about flying a drone in this category, such as drawing up an operations manual, obtaining an operational authorization, but also checking the area where the flight will take place with the ROMATSA map of geographical areas.
