ENGINEERING. PRACTICE. POLICY.
9
unmanned systems
inside
January/February 2016
E
uropean companies have been holding their own in the surging drone
market despite a fragmented regulatory regime where different EU
countries have different rules—and sometimes no rules at all. The situ-
ation makes cross-border business on the continent a kind of backroads rally
with no map.
The European Commission's Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) leg-
islation initiative, led by Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc, should make life
easier for drone manufacturers and commercial operators alike, but it is actually
just a part of a wider European Aviation Strategy aimed at improving the com-
petitiveness of the entire EU aviation sector.
The new drone regulations are being drawn up by the European Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA), the EU body that certifies aviation products.
The EU Aviation Strategy is a broader framework, with several elements, one
of which is a review of the basic EASA Aviation Safety Regulation—and a part of
that has to do with drones, EASA spokesman Ilias Maragakis explained.
2016 is the target date
for completion of the
Remotely-Piloted Aircraft
System (RPAS)
legislation.
fast
fact
Photo courtesy of Flyability
Flyability
partnered with the
mountain rescue
team of the Zermatt
Glacier in the Swiss
Alps to explore
crevasses with its
Gimball drone.
Though operated by
an untrained pilot,
the collision-tolerant
aircraft was able
to fl y deep into the
narrow ice caves,
proving its utility for
search and rescue.
This (EU-wide
UAS regulation) is
an area where more
or less all of us agree
this is a priority. "
–Ilias Maragakis, European
Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) spokesman
"