Amendments To CASR Part 101 Went Into Effect Thursday

New rules for operating drones, or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), came into effect in Australia on Thursday.

Amendments to the Civil Aviation Safety Regulation Part 101 introduce changes to all RPA operations, including new standard operating conditions, weight categories for RPA and a notification system for alerting CASA of planned activity. New requirements for licensing and certification of RPA operators in some categories are also included.

The introduction of a new excluded category of operation for RPA weighing less than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) is also part of the changes to the rules.

Holders of a CASA-issued UAV operator’s certificate (UOC) can continue to operate as per their current certificate and will only be issued the new RPA operator’s certificate (ReOC) after Thursday if their current certificate is varied or requires renewal.

Holders of UAV Controller Certificates can continue to operate under the conditions of their current CASA certification, or can choose to apply for a new remote pilot licence (RePL).

(Source: CASA news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.casa.gov.au/aircraft/landing-page/flying-drones-australia