By mid-August this year, the Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) has initiated 27 administrative violation cases for improper piloting of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, which is more than last year throughout the year, CAA representative Aivis Vincevs pointed out.
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On 13 August last year, regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers (CM) were adopted on the procedure for conducting flights of unmanned aircraft and other types of aircraft, which regulate the use of unmanned aircraft. The previous regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers lost their force. From the entry into force of the Cabinet of Ministers regulations until 31 December 2019, the CAA issued 11 long-term and 128 short-term permits for high-risk flights.
In turn, from January 1 to August 12 this year, the CAA has issued 36 long-term and 119 short-term permits for high-risk drone flights. However, the CAA does not compile statistics on areas owned or managed by other persons, such as Military police.
Last year, from the moment the Cabinet of Ministers regulations approved on 13 August came into force until the end of the year, nine administrative violation cases were initiated, but a total of 25 administrative violation cases were initiated during the whole year. In comparison, from January to August this year, 27 administrative violation cases have been initiated.
Vincevs pointed out that a large part of the cases initiated this year were initiated after the state of emergency declared in the country and the occurrence of warm weather, when the residents used their free time for drone flights. Violations are most often related to entering unauthorized, mostly military areas. The increase in the number of administrative violation cases is also explained by the growing interest of the population in flights with unmanned aircraft.
The CAA constantly receives questions from residents about the rules of use of unmanned aircraft, asking how close or far they can fly from other people and how close or far from real estate. Most of them are directly questions about the regulatory framework, because residents who do not fly with drones are not familiar with the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Vincev explained that the permits issued by the CAA include a requirement to report serious incidents, which must be reported in the event of loss of control of an unmanned aircraft during flight and out of direct view, altitude or other collision risks for airspace users. Currently, the most serious accident is the unmanned aerial vehicle lost to SIA “UAVFactory” on May 2, 2020, which was found two weeks after the disappearance.
At the same time, the CAA receives annual reports from general and commercial aviation that an unmanned aircraft has been spotted nearby. Last year there were three such cases, but in 2018 – five cases.
Vincevs said that the most common violations of flight rules are people who have not received all the necessary permits – both from the CAA and other instances, when flights are conducted in restricted or restricted areas. If a violation is established, the drone may be removed for the duration of the administrative case, by making a decision within the administrative case the unmanned aircraft is returned to its owner.
The CAA believes that, in general, the drone compliance situation and understanding of safe drone use is improving, as evidenced by the willingness of remote pilots to pass tests.
Last year, 145 people passed the theoretical drone test, and 92 people passed the practical test. In turn, by August 12, 321 persons have passed the theoretical examination and 74 persons have passed the practical examination.
Vincevs pointed out that the improvement of the situation is especially explained by the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, which were approved on 13 August last year. It provides an opportunity for remote pilots to demonstrate their theoretical knowledge and practical skills in piloting drones and to obtain long-term permits for high-risk flights by submitting the necessary documentation. The previous rules stipulated that such a permit had to be obtained for each flight.
At the same time, from this year, information on airspace restrictions is available on a special website “airspace.lv”, where remote pilots can check the restrictions on drone flights before the flight. At the same time, any interested person can get acquainted with all the basic rules on the CAA information website “uas.caa.lv”, where you can also test your knowledge by completing the test. In addition, from April this year, it is possible to pass the theoretical knowledge test of remote pilots remotely on the CAA unmanned aerial vehicle information website “uas.caa.lv”.
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