[Shintaro Koga's Principles of Drone Culture] Vol.09 Looking back on the changes in aviation laws and their backgrounds (Part 1)

Future Direction of Aviation Law

At the end of 2020, the drone industry was hit with news that had a big impact. In the document "Direction of new system for realizing level 4 unmanned aerial vehicles" published by the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the direction of licenses related to aircraft certification systems and pilot skills is described. However, in the future, the phrase "expand the scope of registration, permission and approval to 100g or more" was specified.

The background is that high-performance drones weighing less than 200g, which do not fall under the category of "unmanned aerial vehicles" under the Civil Aeronautics Act, have been introduced to the market over the past few years, and the spread of these small drones. Due to the occurrence of accidents and concerns due to accidents, it is a fact that safety cannot be guaranteed by the conventional legal system.

There were various reactions from Japanese drone users to this news, but it would not be welcomed by manufacturers and enthusiasts who produce drones weighing less than 200g. Even though we have been focusing on reducing the weight of the drone so that it does not require an application, the effort will be meaningless.

Law, industry, and culture have always been closely linked. Laws change their forms according to social conditions, and they also influence each other with industry. Amendments to aviation laws have also exerted a great deal of force on the drone industry, pilots, and culture.

Drone × culture is the theme of this serialization. This time, I would like to look back on the revision of the Civil Aeronautics Act, its background, and the changes and impacts of the rules and regulations on our work in chronological order.

Revision of the Civil Aeronautics Law (December 2015)

The incident in which a drone fell into the prime minister's official residence and the incident in which a drone fell at Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City were the reasons for the revision of the Civil Aviation Law. is 2015. The public was surprised by the fact that the drone was able to land on the roof of the prime minister's official residence without being detected by anyone. Also, once a drone falls in a public place, the possibility of injuring an unspecified number of people became apparent, and the word "drone" began to take root around this time.

The fact that it took only a few months from these incidents to the revision of the law is proof that the government had a serious awareness of the problem of drone regulation, but objectively, it is necessary to establish rules as soon as possible. I don't think there are many people who felt that it was necessary at this time.

Until the revision of the Civil Aeronautics Law, there were almost no laws regulating drones in Japan, so before that, drones were basically allowed to fly without special permission. However, as you know, currently, when flying a drone, you must first check the rules of the Aviation Law.

We drone pilots need to have not only piloting and aerial photography skills but also legal knowledge, no matter how much we have piloting and aerial photography techniques, we can't even stand at the starting line to fly a drone. It is.

The revision of the Civil Aeronautics Act in 2015 was an important change in creating a society where drones can be operated safely. I think it can be said that we have clearly "professionalized" those who handle it.

If you have ever applied, you know that most of the content asks whether you understand the risks and take the necessary measures. In business, we accurately understand where and how much risk exists and suppress it to an acceptable level, in other words, whether we conduct appropriate risk assessment. Applicants, pilots, naturally become aware of the degree of risk and responsibility for it during the application process.

It is of course possible to fly drones as a hobby, but the application is a little troublesome for those who simply fly drones as a hobby. I make a distinction. I think it's safe to say that the 2015 amendment to the Civil Aeronautics Act marked the moment when professional drone pilots were born in Japan.

Publication of the Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual (July 2016)

A flight application to the Civil Aviation Bureau must be accompanied by a document called a flight manual. No form existed. At that time, even if I desperately created a manual by myself, it was very inefficient because it took a lot of time for both parties to repeatedly send correction instructions back from the aviation bureau. Therefore, the "Japan Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual" has been published, and it has been decided that this can be used when applying.

Although the basic rules of the Civil Aviation Law are restrictions on location and flight methods, the "Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual" contains a number of detailed additional restrictions. However, there is a problem that many of the applicants who use this manual do not really understand its contents (please think about whether you read the manual carefully when you applied).

For example, if you make a blanket application that does not specify the place or date, the manual clearly states that you cannot fly beyond visual line of sight or at night in densely populated areas (DID). This means that even if you apply for DID flight, nighttime, out-of-sight, and other prohibited items, you will not be able to combine them.

Also, in the case of blanket applications, flying in places where an unspecified number of people gather, such as hospitals and schools, is prohibited in the manual. The reason for these is, of course, the high risk, and if you want to fly, you must make a separate application specifying the location and date and time.

Why are there so many detailed rules in the Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual? If it is an individual application with a fixed location and date, the aviation bureau that examines it can assume a specific risk and examine it, but in the case of a comprehensive application, the location and time are not decided in the first place, so permission is not given. We have to tighten the conditions in order to issue.

Nowadays, thanks to the "Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual", there is no need to create a manual yourself, but on the other hand, there are cases where people do not understand the manual and do not notice flights that are originally prohibited. It is said that there are not many. I sometimes give legal seminars on drones, but I always take up this "Japan Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual" and ask them to deepen their understanding of the contents of comprehensive applications and their approvals and permits so that there are no misunderstandings. I'm here.

Actually, the rules prohibited in this manual often apply to work such as aerial photography, and it often happens that you have to apply again individually. When using drones for business, it can be said that an accurate understanding of the manual is essential.

The main rules of the well-known aviation law are regulations on three airspaces and six flight methods. Detailed decisions are required. Furthermore, this must be revised according to the increase and change of users and the development of industry and society. In fact, the Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual plays a complementary role to this rule in the Civil Aviation Law.

The manual is updated irregularly, but revisions reflect regulatory tightening due to increased risk concerns or deregulation led by safety assurances. In other words, you can see various backgrounds such as social changes, aircraft development, and accident cases in the manual. In order to understand the Civil Aeronautics Law correctly and to catch up with the latest information, it is best to carefully read the "Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual".

▶︎ Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual 01 (individual application)

▶︎ Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual 02 (Blanket Application)

▶︎ Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual (Aerial Spraying)

▶︎ Civil Aviation Bureau Standard Manual (Research and Development)

Drone information infrastructure system DIPS opened (April 2018)

Regarding applications, the biggest change so far is the introduction of this drone information infrastructure system, commonly known as "DIPS". prize. For a while after the revision of the law, the application flow was to create application documents in Word etc. and send them by mail, but in 2018 it became possible to apply on the online system (previously, e-gov (You can apply electronically.)

In 2016, the average number of applicants for the Civil Aeronautics Act was 1,100 per month. Most of the applications relate to flights in densely populated areas (DIDs) and flights less than 30 meters from third parties, which are mostly in high-risk urban areas. means that

If the risk is high, it will naturally take time to review, and if there are any flaws in the application, it will take time and effort to exchange it. Due to this explosive increase in the number of applications, there is an urgent need to improve the efficiency of examinations.

DIPS basically takes the method of checking the options and uploading the necessary files, and will notify you with an error if the information is insufficient or incomplete. Some people say that the application is complicated, but it's true that it's much easier now than it was when I used to prepare the documents myself.

The introduction of DIPS is intended to enable both applicants and reviewers to proceed efficiently and to issue more permits and approvals to the world. Although the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is basically on the side of making rules (=regulations), it also aims to support the formation of a safe drone society and industrial development at the same time.

Although DIPS aims for efficiency, there are also drawbacks for users. For example, you can't see the face of the person in charge of the review. For a while immediately after the revision of the Civil Aeronautics Act, the person in charge of the Ministry of Civil Aviation Bureau gave me correction instructions directly by e-mail etc. I was able to communicate exactly what I wanted.

However, now that all communication is completed within DIPS, if there are questions during the application process, it is not possible to solve them smoothly, and time is often lost. Requests for aerial photography work often come with a tight schedule, and I don't know what the review status is, and when I don't know if the permission/approval will be granted by the desired date, I'm nervous (Note: unmanned You can check the status of your application by calling the aircraft helpdesk and quoting your application number.)

In the case of the direct communication method used in the past, the reviewers are also human, so there are subtle differences in the content of instructions and responses depending on the person in charge. The creation of such "irregularities" is a problem, so I think that DIPS intends to create as much anonymity as possible for reviewers and to make the review criteria fair and systematic.

In the past, I often heard that people who had asked administrative scriveners to act on their behalf started applying on their own with the introduction of DIPS. It is true that it has become easier for drone pilots to apply thanks to the complete online application system.

Further Changes in Aviation Law

By the way, I often hear the phrase "drone weighing less than 200g is not subject to the Civil Aviation Law", but I would like to point out that this is completely wrong. Did you know?

In the Civil Aeronautics Act, drones weighing 200g or more, which stipulate regulations on airspace and flight methods, are defined as "unmanned aerial vehicles", while drones weighing less than 200g fall under "model aircraft" and Perimeter and flight altitude restrictions are stipulated. For drones weighing less than 200g, there are rules under the Aviation Law.

In addition, most laws and ordinances other than the Civil Aeronautics Act do not make distinctions in the weight of drones, so even if it is less than 200g, it may be necessary to notify or be subject to penalties. It is not an “unlicensed drone that can fly” as people say.

However, since it has been decided that drones weighing less than 200g will be subject to regulations under the Civil Aeronautics Act, it is not difficult to imagine that this will have a huge impact on the small consumer drone market. I'm very curious about how it will continue to exist as an "introductory machine".

Next time, I would like to follow the changes in the Civil Aeronautics Law and its background (continued in the second part).