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On January 31, the flight Marking department, airworthiness department and air traffic control office of the Civil Aviation Administration issued the Advisory notice "management procedures for trial operation of specific UAVs (Provisional)". In the absence of mature management experience in the world, the Civil Aviation Administration used the specific operation risk assessment (Sora) method to manage the safety of UAVs with high safety risks, Approve the implementation of some trial operations to provide a basis for the gradual establishment of standards and regulatory systems

management procedures for trial operation of specific UAVs (Provisional)

1 purpose

in order to promote the wide application and development of civil UAVs, it is necessary to establish a corresponding legal system. In the absence of mature management experience in the world, the Civil Aviation Administration uses the specific operation risk assessment (Sora) method to conduct safety management on the operation of UAVs with high safety risks, and approves the implementation of some trial operations, so as to provide a basis for the gradual establishment of standards and regulatory systems. In order to achieve this goal, this advisory circular is hereby formulated

2 classification

3 scope of application

3.1 this advisory notice is applicable to voluntary applicants using the following specific types of UAVs

3.1.1 class IV UAV

3.1.2 the CAAC considers it necessary to conduct trial operation approval for the operation types with high risks in class III UAV

3.1.3 the CAAC believes that those UAVs with low risk in class I and class I can be approved for trial operation

3.2 other types of UAVs do not need trial operation approval

4 definition of terms

the meaning of terms used in this advisory notice is specified in the glossary of terms in Annex A of this advisory notice

5 division of responsibilities for trial operation

5.1 management responsibilities

Civil Aviation Administration uniformly manages the approval and supervision of the national civil unmanned aerial vehicle trial operation, and the unmanned aerial vehicle operation working group is responsible for the specific work. The UAV operation working group can select typical and extensive operation scenarios according to the trial operation needs put forward by the volunteer applicant for UAV operation, send a trial operation validation team to implement the trial operation validation, and organize relevant validation training and publicity. The trial operation validation team usually includes personnel from the aspects of flying buoy, airworthiness, air traffic control, etc

5.2 validation methods

in order to reduce repetitive evaluation and improve operation efficiency, the Civil Aviation Administration uses specific risk assessment methods to formulate relevant validation requirements for trial operation approval, and makes adjustments according to the actual situation, preliminarily determines the validation process applicable to a specific scenario, issues the trial operation approval letter and trial operation specification after approval, and implements supervision and inspection during the trial operation

with the accumulation of trial operation time and operation experience, CAAC can issue trial operation approval letters at different stages to volunteer applicants, and gradually expand the scope of application, including geographical scope, scene scope, time scope, etc

5.3 release of information notice

according to the improvement of the approval process of the above scenarios, the relevant departments of the Civil Aviation Administration will release relevant information notices (IB) in due time. The regional administration can implement the trial operation approval and supervision of volunteer applicants in the same scenario according to the information notice and this consultation notice in 2015

voluntary applicants and regional administrations should give feedback and revision opinions to the above IB, and the relevant departments of Civil Aviation Administration will revise or revise the IB as appropriate and issue it. For the amendment, the approved voluntary applicant needs supplementary examination and approval, and for the amendment, the voluntary applicant does not need supplementary examination and approval. After the formal regulations are issued, the above IB will be converted into relevant regulatory requirements or industry standards according to the size of the risk and

6 trial operation approval process

6.1 preliminary discussion and application of the scheme

before the voluntary applicant makes a formal application for the trial operation, it should consult and fully communicate with the Civil Aviation Administration on the trial operation

in the initial stage, the Civil Aviation Administration will accept the application, and organize the regional administration to participate in the work of the UAV trial operation approval team. After the approval, the Civil Aviation Administration will issue the trial operation approval letter

during the trial operation stage, the volunteer applicant of UAV can apply to the CAAC for one or more of the following types of operations:

(1) stay empty flight (similar to this field)

(2) route flight (similar to transfer)

before the CAAC issues the approval letter for the trial operation of the volunteer applicant's main engine, which is mainly composed of oil cylinder base actuator, moving beam, welding frame, fixed plate, high-precision load sensor, displacement sensor, accessories and other components, the volunteer applicant should be able to prove to the CAAC that it has the ability to operate in accordance with the provisions applicable to the volunteer applicant in this advisory circular

6.2 safety assessment

the volunteer applicant should conduct a safety assessment before applying for trial operation, and fully analyze and evaluate the risks related to the operation of the above-mentioned specific UAVs, so as to determine the acceptability of the proposed trial operation. See Annex B for specific evaluation methods. For the operation type or specific stage operation that cannot be covered by this procedure, it can be approved and implemented after evaluation according to the following process, and the safety measures can be included in the operation specification

(a) hazard category - likelihood estimation

(1) risk analysis method

(2) risk parameters

(b) risk assessment process

(1) preliminary evaluation

(2) task concept description

(3) determine the ground risk level of the initial unmanned aerial vehicle system

(4) hazard prevention measures and derivation of UAV material safety

(5) fatal test

(6) specific assurance level and integrity level (SAIL)

(7) determine the airspace collision category (AEC)

(8) preliminary assessment of air risk level

(9) establish task mitigation measures

(10) evaluate the required level of task mitigation measures

(11) determine the proposed threat prevention measures

(12) feasibility check

(13) verify the robustness of the proposed preventive measures

6.3 operational verification of risk control

after the volunteer applicant completes the safety assessment, the preliminary operational verification of the risk should be carried out to ensure that the risk is controlled within an acceptable range

6.4 trial operation approval

after the basic performance and function of these products have been close to foreign products, and the trial operation safety assessment and operation verification, the trial operation approval team will review and determine that the risk of the trial operation is within the effective control and acceptable range, and the Civil Aviation Administration will recognize the trial operation of the volunteer applicant in the form of issuing the trial operation approval letter. The contents of the approval letter shall include: the name of the legal person, the location of the trial operation area, the name of the legal representative, the model of the trial operation aircraft, the type of operation, the approver, the number of the approval letter, the approval/effective time, the termination time and other necessary information

6.5 implementation of inspection and supervision

the volunteer applicant shall keep the trial operation approval letter, operation specifications and a complete set of operation manuals in the trial operation base approved by the CAAC or other places acceptable to the CAAC. For the volunteer applicant who carries out UAV experiment, research and development, prototype design, it shall also keep the relevant materials of experiment and verification, It is convenient for the CAAC to inspect or monitor the volunteer applicants at any time by means of document review and flight verification, using the Sora evaluation method. According to the results of inspection or supervision, determine whether the volunteer applicant is qualified to continue to hold its operation approval letter and operation specification. The frequency of inspection or supervision is determined by the trial operation approval team according to the risk. In the process of inspection or supervision, if the volunteer applicant fails to provide the CAAC with the operation specification or any specified records, documents or reports as required by the CAAC, or finds defects in the demonstration and verification, the CAAC may suspend or terminate part or all of its operation approval and operation specification

6.6 suspension/termination conditions of trial operation

6.6.1 after the volunteer applicant obtains the trial operation approval letter, the trial operation will be suspended in one of the following circumstances:

(a) in the process of daily supervision, it is found that the actual operation situation is inconsistent with the approval letter; (b) During the trial operation, the operation risk increases and exceeds the controllable range; (c) The operation area is affected by other factors

when the approval of trial operation is suspended, the volunteer applicant shall rectify according to the requirements of the CAAC, and the CAAC shall make relevant records

6.6.2 during the trial operation, the trial operation shall be terminated if one of the following circumstances occurs to the volunteer applicant:

(a) the holder of the approval letter voluntarily gives up and returns it to the CAAC

(b) CAAC temporarily withholds, cancels or otherwise terminates the approval letter

when the trial operation approval letter is suspended, cancelled or invalid for other reasons, the holder of the trial operation approval letter shall return the trial operation approval letter to CAAC

6.7 operation 3. preservation of pneumatic clamping records of samples

the volunteer applicant must keep records that can prove the relevant operating personnel and activities of the volunteer applicant in its operation base or other places approved by the CAAC, and keep them for a long time. The scope of records includes:

(a) operation manual

(b) list of unmanned aerial vehicles

(c) pre flight inspection records

(d) aircraft maintenance records

(E) personnel qualification information

(f) records of flight time and duty time

(g) system data records of each flight. Refer to the following table for specific information:

6.8 data reliability

in order to ensure the authenticity and effectiveness of the operation system data, volunteer applicants must use technical methods such as digital signature or blockchain to ensure that the operation data cannot be tampered with after being encrypted and authenticated by a third party technology

6.9 insurance

at the beginning of the trial operation, the volunteer applicant should have a third-party insurance to ensure that all risks in the operation process are covered

7 modification of operation specifications

the CAAC can modify the operation specifications under any of the following circumstances:

(a) the CAAC believes that it needs to be modified for the sake of safety and public interests

(b) the voluntary applicant applies for modification, and the Bureau believes that safety and public interest allow such modification

8 operation manual requirements

8.1 voluntary applicants should formulate operation manuals for their UAV drivers, maintenance and other ground staff, and update the manuals in a timely manner according to the actual situation. The operation manual shall include policies and procedures that can be accepted by CAAC and approved by CAAC

8.2 the volunteer applicant shall keep a set of operation manuals at its operation base or other places acceptable to the CAAC

8.3 the date of the last change must be marked on each operation manual page that has been changed

8.4 according to the contents approved by the CAAC in the trial operation, the volunteer applicant should formulate the relevant contents of the operation manual, see Annex C for details

9 implementation and abolition

this advisory notice is interpreted by the UAV operation working group of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. This advisory notice shall come into force as of the date of promulgation

when other laws and regulations are issued and come into force, the part of this advisory notice that conflicts with its content will automatically become invalid; Relevant departments of the Civil Aviation Administration shall revise this advisory notice in a timely manner in accordance with changes in laws and regulations, scientific and technological progress, social needs, etc

Click to view: specific UAV trial operation management procedures (Provisional)

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