Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947Show full title

Article 2 U.K. Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions in Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 apply.

The following definitions also apply:

(1)

‘unmanned aircraft system’ (‘UAS’) means an unmanned aircraft and the equipment to control it remotely;

(2)

‘unmanned aircraft system operator’ (‘UAS operator’) means any legal or natural person operating or intending to operate one or more UAS;

(3)

‘assemblies of people’ means gatherings where persons are unable to move away due to the density of the people present;

(4)

‘UAS geographical zone’ means a portion of airspace established by the [F1 Secretary of State] that facilitates, restricts or excludes UAS operations in order to address risks pertaining to safety, privacy, protection of personal data, security or the environment, arising from UAS operations;

(5)

‘robustness’ means the property of mitigation measures resulting from combining the safety gain provided by the mitigation measures and the level of assurance and integrity that the safety gain has been achieved;

(6)

F2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7)

‘visual line of sight operation’ (‘VLOS’) means a type of UAS operation in which, the remote pilot is able to maintain continuous unaided visual contact with the unmanned aircraft, allowing the remote pilot to control the flight path of the unmanned aircraft in relation to other aircraft, people and obstacles for the purpose of avoiding collisions;

(8)

‘beyond visual line of sight operation’ (‘BVLOS’) means a type of UAS operation which is not conducted in VLOS;

(9)

‘light UAS operator certificate’ (‘LUC’) means a certificate issued to a UAS operator by [F3 the CAA] as set out in part C of the Annex;

(10)

‘model aircraft club or association’ means an organisation legally established in [F4 the United Kingdom] for the purpose of conducting leisure flights, air displays, sporting activities or competition activities using UAS;

(11)

‘dangerous goods’ means articles or substances, which are capable of posing a hazard to health, safety, property or the environment in the case of an incident or accident, that the unmanned aircraft is carrying as its payload, including in particular:

(a)

explosives (mass explosion hazard, blast projection hazard, minor blast hazard, major fire hazard, blasting agents, extremely insensitive explosives);

(b)

gases (flammable gas, non-flammable gas, poisonous gas, oxygen, inhalation hazard);

(c)

flammable liquids (flammable liquids; combustible, fuel oil, gasoline);

(d)

flammable solids (flammable solids, spontaneously combustible solids, dangerous when wet);

(e)

oxidising agents and organic peroxides;

(f)

toxic and infectious substances (poison, biohazard);

(g)

radioactive substances;

(h)

corrosive substances;

(12)

‘payload’ means instrument, mechanism, equipment, part, apparatus, appurtenance, or accessory, including communications equipment, that is installed in or attached to the aircraft and is not used or intended to be used in operating or controlling an aircraft in flight, and is not part of an airframe, engine, or propeller;

(13)

‘direct remote identification’ means a system that ensures the local broadcast of information about a unmanned aircraft in operation, including the marking of the unmanned aircraft, so that this information can be obtained without physical access to the unmanned aircraft;

(14)

‘follow-me mode’ means a mode of operation of a UAS where the unmanned aircraft constantly follows the remote pilot within a predetermined radius;

(15)

‘geo-awareness’ means a function that, based on the data provided by [F5 the CAA], detects a potential breach of airspace limitations and alerts the remote pilots so that they can take immediate and effective action to prevent that breach;

(16)

‘privately built UAS’ means a UAS assembled or manufactured for the builder's own use, not including UAS assembled from sets of parts placed on the market as a single ready-to-assemble kit;

(17)

‘autonomous operation’ means an operation during which an unmanned aircraft operates without the remote pilot being able to intervene;

(18)

‘uninvolved persons’ means persons who are not participating in the UAS operation or who are not aware of the instructions and safety precautions given by the UAS operator;

(19)

‘making available on the market’ means any supply of a product for distribution, consumption or use on the F6 ... market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in exchange of payment or free of charge;

(20)

F7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(21)

‘controlled ground area’ means the ground area where the UAS is operated and within which the UAS operator can ensure that only involved persons are present;

(22)

‘maximum take-off mass’ (‘MTOM’) means the maximum Unmanned Aircraft mass, including payload and fuel, as defined by the manufacturer or the builder, at which the Unmanned Aircraft can be operated;

(23)

‘unmanned sailplane’ means an unmanned aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its fixed lifting surfaces, the free flight of which does not depend on an engine. It may be equipped with an engine to be used in case of emergency[F8 ;]

(24)

[F9 ‘ unmanned aircraft observer ’ means a person, positioned alongside the remote pilot, who, by unaided visual observation of the unmanned aircraft, assists the remote pilot in keeping the unmanned aircraft in VLOS and safely conducting the flight;

(25)

‘ airspace observer ’ means a person who assists the remote pilot by performing unaided visual scanning of the airspace in which the unmanned aircraft is operating for any potential hazard in the air;

(26)

‘ command unit ’ ( ‘ CU ’ ) means the equipment or system of equipment to control unmanned aircraft remotely as defined in point 32 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 which supports the control or the monitoring of the unmanned aircraft during any phase of flight, with the exception of any infrastructure supporting the command and control (C2) link service;

(27)

‘ C2 link service ’ means a communication service supplied by a third party, providing command and control between the unmanned aircraft and the CU;

(28)

F10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(29)

F11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(30)

F12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(31)

F13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(32)

F14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(33)

F15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(34)

‘night’ means the hours between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight as defined in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 ](1)[F16 ;

(35)

‘CAA’ means the Civil Aviation Authority].

(36)

[F17 ‘Delegated Regulation (EU Law version)’ means Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 as it has effect in EU Law;

(37)

‘relevant restricted areas’ means—

(a)

geographical zones designated by regulations under Article 15 of this Regulation,

(b)

areas in which flying a UA is prohibited, restricted or subject to conditions under regulations made under article 239 of the Air Navigation Order 2016,

(c)

areas which are flight restriction zones of protected aerodromes within the meaning of article 94A(7) of the Air Navigation Order 2016,

(d)

areas which are protected space sites within the meaning of article 94BA of the Air Navigation Order 2016, and

(e)

places in the UK designated as prohibited places by regulations made under section 8(1) of the National Security Act 2023.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Art. 2(4) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(2)

F2 Art. 2(6) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(3)

F3 Words in Art. 2(9) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(4)

F4 Words in Art. 2(10) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(5)

F5 Words in Art. 2(15) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(6)

F6 Word in Art. 2(19) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(7)

F7 Art. 2(20) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(8)

F8 Substituted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/639 of 12 May 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 as regards standard scenarios for operations executed in or beyond the visual line of sight (Text with EEA relevance).

F9 Inserted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/639 of 12 May 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 as regards standard scenarios for operations executed in or beyond the visual line of sight (Text with EEA relevance).

F10 Art. 2(28) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(8)

F11 Art. 2(29) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(8)

F12 Art. 2(30) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(8)

F13 Art. 2(31) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(8)

F14 Art. 2(32) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(8)

F15 Art. 2(33) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(8)

F16 Art. 2(35) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 59(9)

F17 Art. 2(36)(37) inserted (1.1.2026) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1106), regs. 1(2), 17

(1)

[F9 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 of 26 September 2012 laying down the common rules of the air and operational provisions regarding services and procedures in air navigation and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1035/2011 and Regulations (EC) No 1265/2007, (EC) No 1794/2006, (EC) No 730/2006, (EC) No 1033/2006 and (EU) No 255/2010 ( OJ L 281, 13.10.2012, p. 1 ).]

Textual Amendments

F9 Inserted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/639 of 12 May 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 as regards standard scenarios for operations executed in or beyond the visual line of sight (Text with EEA relevance).