Future small unmanned aircraft safety legislation

The Isle of Man Civil Aviation Administration consulted on proposed aviation safety legislation for small unmanned aircraft (SUA). Feedback was sought on a number of areas including:

• Night flying
• Flying larger SUAs
• First-person view by an observer
• Maximum height and distance
• Flying near buildings and people

We received 56 responses to the consultation.

52% of respondents did not agree that permission should be required for flying a SUA at night.

41% of respondents thought that the cut-off weight of 4kgs was too light for those SUAs that required permission to fly.

73% of respondents agreed with the ability to use first-person-view with a competent observer.

68% of respondents agreed with the requirement not to fly a SUA at more than 400 feet above the earth’s surface without permission.

55% of respondents agreed with requirement not to fly a SUA over or within 150 metres of a substantially residential, industrial or recreational area without permission.

In a number of areas, respondents felt that the penalty was too severe.

Please see the report for more detailed analysis.

Although 57% of respondents agreed with the requirement not to fly a SUA more than 500 metres away we decided to withdraw the proposal as we concurred with the points raised by respondents who did not support the requirement.

All the other proposals will be taken forward.

We would like to thank those that took the time to respond to the consultation.