Aircraft airworthiness certification standards for civil UAVs

Abstract

The CAA has recognised the need to develop civil standards for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Accordingly the CAA Directorate of Airspace Policy has published the document ‘CAP 722 –Unmanned Air Vehicle Operation in UK Airspace – Guidance’, (which can be accessed via the CAA website — http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP722.pdf). The document itemises the top-level military and civil regulations which impact upon the operation of UAVs in the UK. One of the items listed within the document is ‘Civil Certification’ of UAVs. This particular aspect is the responsibility of the Design and Production Standards Division, (D&PSD), of the CAA Safety Regulation Group. The purpose of this paper is to present and explain the current position of D&PSD regarding the appropriate design standards to be applied for the civil certification of the airworthiness of UAVs.

This paper presents the CAA position that UAVs should be granted permission to fly by qualifying for certificates of airworthiness, by demonstration of compliance with defined airworthiness standards comparable to, and derived from, those applied to manned aircraft. The paper also presents a method for determining, to a first approximation, the level of airworthiness standards which should be applied to any particular design of UAV by reference to the existing codes of airworthiness requirements for manned aircraft.