How to legally use drones for surveys?

Abstract

Drones are very useful for civil engineering and environmental surveys because drones may increase productivity, allow more regular and comprehensive monitoring of construction progress, monitor the status of infrastructures (e.g. bridges), and anyway collect a vast amount of digital data, which can be easily stored, manipulated and shared. However, while the benefits offered to end users by drones are becoming apparent to the entire professional community, possibly not anyone is yet aware of the conditions to fly drones legally in different jurisdictions. The aim of this article is to respond to some of the most common questions on the regulation of drones, hoping that the answers might facilitate the development of business cases for organisations that have not yet decided to use drones, or which intend to expand their use. In the USA Part 107 lists detailed limitations and conditions for the UA flight, but it does not have a clear list of responsibilities of the RPIC compared with the wider responsibilities of the UAS operator (e.g. the commercial company employing the pilot). In the EU, USA, and other jurisdictions, the first obligation to legally fly a drone for professional purposes is registration; the drone (if MTOM 250 g or more) in the USA and the operator in the EU (even if the drone is below 250 g). Virtual and ‘face-to-face’ courses on the regulation of non-military drones are available at the Joint Aviation Authorities – Training Organisation (JAA-TO).