What qualifications do I need to fly a drone?

On November 21, the Chinese Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (hereinafter referred to as China AOPA) held a press conference, held a press conference on topics such as drone pilot qualification management and answered questions from reporters.

At the press conference, Ke Yubao, Executive Secretary of China's AOPA and Director of the UAV Management Office, emphatically introduced the work of civil UAV pilot qualification management. According to Ke Yubao, on November 18, 2013, the Flight Standards Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "Interim Regulations on the Pilot Management of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems". Based on the consideration of safety risks, it drew lessons from the three international regulations on drone management. Classification method, classification and qualification management of pilot pilots of civilian drones: low safety risk, that is, indoor flight, drones with an empty aircraft weight within 7 kg within the line of sight, and in sparsely populated and empty non-populated areas The pilots are responsible for the flight of the drones, and do not require license management; the safety risk is slightly greater, that is, the isolated airspace is flying with the drone weighing less than 7kg in the line of sight, and the airspace weight of the fusion airspace is 116kg The following drone flights are explored and managed by industry associations, and training certificates are issued; the riskier ones, that is, drones with a weight of more than 116 kg in the integrated airspace are managed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China and issued a pilot license. According to this regulation, my country's civil drone pilot qualifications are formally explored for hierarchical and classified management, and the basic theoretical knowledge and practical skills operation are paid attention to from the perspective of safety risks, and there is no requirement and management for other industry application skills.

After the application of China's AOPA and the approval of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, on April 29, 2014 and April 23, 2015, the Civil Aviation Administration issued the "Notice on Issues Concerning the Management of Civil Unmanned Aircraft System Pilot Qualifications". The management of drone pilots that operate in an empty aircraft weighing more than 7 kg (4 kg according to the latest regulations in 2016) and drone pilots operating in isolated airspace beyond the visual range shall be handled by China’s AOPA, and the Flight Standards Department of the Civil Aviation Administration is responsible for supervision and an examination.

Over the past three years, the drone industry has developed rapidly, and the management of drone driver qualifications has achieved obvious results. At present, various application industries across the country have recognized and affirmed the civil drone driver certification. Orderly management of personnel qualifications has played a good role in promoting. As of November 20, 2017, a total of 247 UAV pilot training institutions have been certified by China's AOPA, of which 46 have been suspended and one has been cancelled. A total of 22,743 drone pilot certificates were issued. China's AOPA will release a civilian drone pilot data report every six months, will have detailed investigations and data analysis, and will simultaneously report and submit reports to the Civil Aviation Administration as required.

Ke Yubao said that although my country's civilian drones started late, they have developed extremely rapidly, and they are already in the forefront in terms of quantity and variety. However, the rapid development of the industry has also brought about many negative problems. It is necessary to further smooth the management system, and supervise in accordance with the law, health supervision, and scientific supervision. Regarding the management of drone pilot qualifications, the association still has shortcomings, but we have been working hard to improve and perfect related work. If an employee is found to violate relevant regulations, the association will severely punish it. If someone maliciously misinterprets and discredited China's AOPA-related work, we will also take legal measures to protect legitimate rights and interests. We hope that under the supervision of people from all walks of life and the inspection of the Civil Aviation Administration, this part of the work can be done better.