Procedures established for emergencies as per Canadian CARS 901.23(1)

[KLJ5]

Hi everyone. I'm about to do a flight review to acquire my advanced RPAS licence. The Canadian Air Regulations 901.23(1) specify that "no pilot shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft system unless the following procedures are established:

1. Normal operations
2. emergency procedures, including with respect to
   
   • (i) a control station failure,
   • (ii) an equipment failure,
   • (iii) a failure of the remotely piloted aircraft,
   • (iv) a loss of the command and control link,
   • (v) a fly-away, and
   • (vi) flight termination."

It goes on to say:

• "No pilot shall conduct the take-off or launch of a remotely piloted aircraft unless the procedures referred to in subsection (1) are reviewed before the flight by, and are immediately available to, each crew member."

Would any of you care to share the contents of any relevant checklists you may have constructed to address the referred to emergency procedures that would fit with the Mavic 2 Pro? Any practical solutions to the above would be appreciated, but I'm particularly interested in doing a good job on my review. Thanx in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Meta4]

• (i) a control station failure,

In the event of a failure of the controller, there's not much you can do.
Just make sure that your Failsafe Action is RTH (the default setting) and on loss of signal, the drone will initiate RTH

• (ii) an equipment failure,

(i) covers the controller and (iii) the drone, what other equipment is there?

• (iii) a failure of the remotely piloted aircraft,

Not much you can do if there's a hardware error with the drone.
If you have some control, pilot it away from where it could cause harm

• (iv) a loss of the command and control link,

That's the same as (i).

• (v) a fly-away, and

There's no such thing as a "flyaway", but if there was, you probably couldn;t do anything anyway.

• (vi) flight termination."

What does that mean?
What's the emergency?

 

[KLJ5]

There are lots of things one can do. For example, flyaway, contact nearest ATC unit and advise of last known position, direction, battery time left, etc. I'd prefer answers to questions though.

 

[BigAl07]

There are lots of things one can do. For example, flyaway, contact nearest ATC unit and advise of last known position, direction, battery time left, etc. I'd prefer answers to questions though.

You do realize that @Meta4 gave you some excellent answers and the 2 final remarks/questions are VERY reasonable replies.

 

[KLJ5]

Thanx for your input, BigAl07. I guess beauty's in the eyes of the beholder. They weren't what I was looking for. Like yourself, I'm not exactly new to aviation, having acquired an airline transport pilot licence 58 years ago. I'll just withdraw my query.

 

[Meta4]

There are lots of things one can do. For example, flyaway, contact nearest ATC unit and advise of last known position, direction, battery time left, etc. I'd prefer answers to questions though.

Sorry ... I was thinking practically rather than hypothetically.
In most situations that are erroneously referred to as a "flyaway", the action happens close to the ground and is over very quickly, before you can do anything about it.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the ultimate hypothetical "flyaway" would be a situation where the drone climbs and continues an uncontrolled climb to high levels.
This is a very rare incident.
Or there are incidents where a novice flyer goes too high in a wind that's too strong and the drone is carried away.
There's no excuse for this happening to an experienced flyer, but the way to manage the issue is to bring the drone down out of the wind and do what you can to recover the drone, depending on the wind speed.

In both of those scenarios, by the time you tried recovery options, if you could get through to the nearest ATC unit to advise last known position etc, the battery would probably have run down and the emergency would have self-remedied anyway.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Hi everyone. I'm about to do a flight review to acquire my advanced RPAS licence. The Canadian Air Regulations 901.23(1) specify that "no pilot shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft system unless the following procedures are established:

1. Normal operations
2. emergency procedures, including with respect to
   • (i) a control station failure,
   • (ii) an equipment failure,
   • (iii) a failure of the remotely piloted aircraft,
   • (iv) a loss of the command and control link,
   • (v) a fly-away, and
   • (vi) flight termination."

It goes on to say:

• "No pilot shall conduct the take-off or launch of a remotely piloted aircraft unless the procedures referred to in subsection (1) are reviewed before the flight by, and are immediately available to, each crew member."

Would any of you care to share the contents of any relevant checklists you may have constructed to address the referred to emergency procedures that would fit with the Mavic 2 Pro? Any practical solutions to the above would be appreciated, but I'm particularly interested in doing a good job on my review. Thanx in advance for any suggestions.

Something I've noticed quite a few times is how (in my own back yard) the CAA tries to apply procedures lifted from manned aircraft regulations and tries to twist them slightly to fit in with UAV's. Like the checklists and maintenance & inspection logs.... I can only think of two things vaguely maintainable: the rotors and the batteries, even then the only option for either is to swap 'em out. It's like the Aviation Authorities are either at a loss as to how to generate an applicable airworthiness regulatory structure or are applying what they already have while treading water until they have a specific commercial and recreational framework for drones. Regardless, I've bent the knee and produced a flight manual and three checklists that seem to tick all the relevant boxes for M&I (airframe and batteries) as well as pre-flight... which used to be a requirement for the now obsolete PfCO.

 

[horsepowerphoto]

Don Joyce is a great source of info... Check out this video of his:

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[NoBozos]

Any practical solutions to the above would be appreciated, but I'm particularly interested in doing a good job on my review

I generally concur with Meta 4's responses.

Regulatory agencies lack nuanced understanding. This is taking procedures designed for manned aircraft and trying to apply them to UAS. For example, many of these questions are redundant. But that's irrelevant to the task at hand and your explicit objective of doing well. I'm certain you will succeed.

Don't skip #1. Normal operations. Follow the maintenance procedures outlined from the manufacturer. Build a checklist of things to check and do, such as make sure the battery is charged, inspecting props, drone body, making sure you have good satellite connection, letting UAS get home point, testing inputs and responses, examining battery details including temperature etc. Build your own list. It might include things like make sure memory is installed or you have your reading glasses.

The question specifically refers to emergency procedures, not prevention, which is a more meaningful discussion. So with that focus:

i) & iv) Control station failure. It depends on the type of failure, but these would be power, connection, software, hardware. If it's a power failure or the unit has a fatal hardware issue, not much you can do. For software, or connection issues, your options are reboot the RC, adjust antennas, move RC closer to the UAS, depending on what you're seeing.

iii) failure of UAS. We have seen examples of UAS that still respond to input, but erratically. In that case, the best one can do is make some quick determinations about how input influences flight, and doing your best to stay away from hazards and land safely, as META 4 stated. If one initiated an emergency prop stop, it's theoretically possible to restart. Not something I'd suggest practicing.

vi) flight termination (sounds like another way to say "Crash") The answer here would seem to be comply with any required reporting. Understand what is required.

Outside your passing your test, a more meaningful discussion is how one prevents these from happening through human error.

Good luck!

 

[KLJ5]

Sorry ... I was thinking practically rather than hypothetically.
In most situations that are erroneously referred to as a "flyaway", the action happens close to the ground and is over very quickly, before you can do anything about it.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the ultimate hypothetical "flyaway" would be a situation where the drone climbs and continues an uncontrolled climb to high levels.
This is a very rare incident.
Or there are incidents where a novice flyer goes too high in a wind that's too strong and the drone is carried away.
There's no excuse for this happening to an experienced flyer, but the way to manage the issue is to bring the drone down out of the wind and do what you can to recover the drone, depending on the wind speed.

In both of those scenarios, by the time you tried recovery options, if you could get through to the nearest ATC unit to advise last known position etc, the battery would probably have run down and the emergency would have self-remedied anyway.

No problem, friend. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my response. The list of contingencies I alluded to in my original post comes straight from the Canadian Aviation Regulations, and I'm told the examiners in my region tend to want to see that a candidate has given thought to the contingencies, possible solutions and to have checklists avalilable that address them. I sure don't disagree with you about your responses being practical, but I think I might get a quick F if I repeated some of them to an examiner. :>) To be more specific about my query, as an example, I believe the term 'command and control link' means the data transmission between the controller and drone. Yes? If so, I guess an interruption could be a total loss of signal or intermittent loss due to environment - perhaps wires that the drone pilot hadn't noticed on his site survey ... or buildings with lots of equipment that could affect the frequency. I'm trying to think of possibilities and generic checklists that might address them, or at least allow me to comment intelligently to an examiner. I don't intend to do this commercially - just as a hobby.
I'm interested in your comment about flyaways mostly taking place close to the ground. I'd appreciate it if you could amplify upon that. What tends to happen down low? Also, in your example of the drone continuously climbing, anything you can think of that could be tried? Being aware of upper winds being very different from surface winds is a good tip. Re ATC, I have 2 drones, one of which is advertised as being good for 48 minutes. If I was flying in a Control Zone at 30 mph for 40 minutes, a lot of damage could be possible.
Thanx again for your input.

 

[KLJ5]

Don Joyce is a great source of info... Check out this video of his:

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That was SUPER HELPFUL!! Thanx so much.

 

[KLJ5]

Something I've noticed quite a few times is how (in my own back yard) the CAA tries to apply procedures lifted from manned aircraft regulations and tries to twist them slightly to fit in with UAV's. Like the checklists and maintenance & inspection logs.... I can only think of two things vaguely maintainable: the rotors and the batteries, even then the only option for either is to swap 'em out. It's like the Aviation Authorities are either at a loss as to how to generate an applicable airworthiness regulatory structure or are applying what they already have while treading water until they have a specific commercial and recreational framework for drones. Regardless, I've bent the knee and produced a flight manual and three checklists that seem to tick all the relevant boxes for M&I (airframe and batteries) as well as pre-flight... which used to be a requirement for the now obsolete PfCO.

Thanx. Care to share any of your contingency checks?

 

[KLJ5]

I generally concur with Meta 4's responses.

Regulatory agencies lack nuanced understanding. This is taking procedures designed for manned aircraft and trying to apply them to UAS. For example, many of these questions are redundant. But that's irrelevant to the task at hand and your explicit objective of doing well. I'm certain you will succeed.

Don't skip #1. Normal operations. Follow the maintenance procedures outlined from the manufacturer. Build a checklist of things to check and do, such as make sure the battery is charged, inspecting props, drone body, making sure you have good satellite connection, letting UAS get home point, testing inputs and responses, examining battery details including temperature etc. Build your own list. It might include things like make sure memory is installed or you have your reading glasses.

The question specifically refers to emergency procedures, not prevention, which is a more meaningful discussion. So with that focus:

i) & iv) Control station failure. It depends on the type of failure, but these would be power, connection, software, hardware. If it's a power failure or the unit has a fatal hardware issue, not much you can do. For software, or connection issues, your options are reboot the RC, adjust antennas, move RC closer to the UAS, depending on what you're seeing.

iii) failure of UAS. We have seen examples of UAS that still respond to input, but erratically. In that case, the best one can do is make some quick determinations about how input influences flight, and doing your best to stay away from hazards and land safely, as META 4 stated. If one initiated an emergency prop stop, it's theoretically possible to restart. Not something I'd suggest practicing.

vi) flight termination (sounds like another way to say "Crash") The answer here would seem to be comply with any required reporting. Understand what is required.

Outside your passing your test, a more meaningful discussion is how one prevents these from happening through human error.

Good luck!

That's lotsa good stuff. Thanx so much for your input. I believe by reboot RC, you mean switch the controller off and then back on. I'm guessing the drone would just hover during the on/off cycle if satellites were visible? Maybe I'll try it at a foot above ground. :>) Re prevention through human error: I did a ton of flying, instructing and checking on Boeing and Airbus a/c and always advocated that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[NoBozos]

I believe by reboot RC, you mean switch the controller off and then back on. I'm guessing the drone would just hover during the on/off cycle if satellites were visible? Maybe I'll try it at a foot above ground. :>)

I wouldn’t suggest purposefully doing this. However, what should happen, is from the drone’s perspective, it will see it as a loss of connection to the RC unit and it should then initiate whatever response you’ve chosen for a loss of connection, return to home, hover. etc. And yes, the caveat is it would need satellite connectivity, (which you would have assured before taking off). And it should reconnect similarly.

To be clear, it’s one of the limited responses you could take, and the scenario in which this would be a good response is limited.

The other response one could offer in a loss of connection, but not a problem with the controller itself, would be digging into the transmission settings. Trying different options.

Here’s a good real world example of an emergency scenario and response. Total loss of control during roof thermal inspection

 

[KLJ5]

I wouldn’t suggest purposefully doing this. However, what should happen, is from the drone’s perspective, it will see it as a loss of connection to the RC unit and it should then initiate whatever response you’ve chosen for a loss of connection, return to home, hover. etc. And yes, the caveat is it would need satellite connectivity, (which you would have assured before taking off). And it should reconnect similarly.

To be clear, it’s one of the limited responses you could take, and the scenario in which this would be a good response is limited.

The other response one could offer in a loss of connection, but not a problem with the controller itself, would be digging into the transmission settings. Trying different options.

Here’s a good real world example of an emergency scenario and response. Total loss of control during roof thermal inspection

I'm learning lots here and getting some good ideas. Thanx very much for the detailed response. Very helpful.

 

[Zbip57]

[...] switch the controller off and then back on. I'm guessing the drone would just hover during the on/off cycle if satellites were visible?

Your flight reviewer definitely would not approve of "guessing".

Your contingency plan should be based on "knowing" how to respond when something unexpected occurs. In the case of X happening, then the response (according to your contingency plan) should be Y.

Maybe I'll try it at a foot above ground. :>) Re prevention through human error: I did a ton of flying, instructing and checking on Boeing and Airbus a/c and always advocated that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Absolutely, yes! Do try things, but always in a safe location in case the response isn't what you expected.

It's important to practise different scenarios in order to become familiar with the way your drone operates. For example, it's good to know how long it takes upon initial loss of control signal before the drone actually responds with its configured Failsafe routine (Return-to-Home, Hover, or Land). And it's important to know, if you've switched off your controller, how long does it take to regain a control signal after you switch the controller back on.

Study the manual and make yourself a checklist of things you'd like to try out to confirm whether they actually work the way you understood they should behave. There are plenty of confusing things which react differently depending on the particular circumstances (i.e. does it have a good GPS lock or not?).

I once had a small scare with my original Phantom-1 when it reacted in an unexpected manner. It was entirely my own fault as I was confused about which mode it was in at the time. That experience convinced me to do a series of experiments until I thoroughly understood what had gone wrong. When I got my new Phantom 3 Pro, I set out to do as many tests as I could. I'm glad I did because it responded differently in many ways compared to my older P1.

I've posted this video before. Here I was testing the RTH response of my P3Pro under various conditions, including switching off the controller. Phantom 3 Pro - Failsafe RTH Find yourself an open field and try similar stuff. When your Flight Reviewer asks you what you would do if X happens, you'll be able to answer with confidence that you will do Y, because you'll "know" (not "guess") how the drone responds to that input.

 

[KLJ5]

Your flight reviewer definitely would not approve of "guessing".

Your contingency plan should be based on "knowing" how to respond when something unexpected occurs. In the case of X happening, then the response (according to your contingency plan) should be Y.


Absolutely, yes! Do try things, but always in a safe location in case the response isn't what you expected.

It's important to practise different scenarios in order to become familiar with the way your drone operates. For example, it's good to know how long it takes upon initial loss of control signal before the drone actually responds with its configured Failsafe routine (Return-to-Home, Hover, or Land). And it's important to know, if you've switched off your controller, how long does it take to regain a control signal after you switch the controller back on.

Study the manual and make yourself a checklist of things you'd like to try out to confirm whether they actually work the way you understood they should behave. There are plenty of confusing things which react differently depending on the particular circumstances (i.e. does it have a good GPS lock or not?).

I once had a small scare with my original Phantom-1 when it reacted in an unexpected manner. It was entirely my own fault as I was confused about which mode it was in at the time. That experience convinced me to do a series of experiments until I thoroughly understood what had gone wrong. When I got my new Phantom 3 Pro, I set out to do as many tests as I could. I'm glad I did because it responded differently in many ways compared to my older P1.

I've posted this video before. Here I was testing the RTH response of my P3Pro under various conditions, including switching off the controller. Phantom 3 Pro - Failsafe RTH Find yourself an open field and try similar stuff. When your Flight Reviewer asks you what you would do if X happens, you'll be able to answer with confidence that you will do Y, because you'll "know" (not "guess") how the drone responds to that input.

Excellent tips! Thanx so much for taking the time to provide me with valuable relevant info. Much appreciated!

 

[Zbip57]

I did a ton of flying, instructing and checking on Boeing and Airbus a/c and always advocated that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I have a friend who flies executive jets. He has to go on recurring simulator training. That is so cool, because they can do stuff on the simulator that's far too dangerous to ever risk attempting on a real plane. He told me they can load up so many simultaneous failures and emergency situations that eventually your brain just melts and you freeze up and panic, or push the wrong button at the wrong time.

There are plenty of YouTube videos of people trying out their brand new christmas drone inside their living room. Either it's a sheet of paper blown off a desktop, or a curtain flapping in the prop wash, but something always ends up tangled in the prop blades, and boom. End of brand new drone...

Find yourself an open field. Plan your experiments with expected results. Always leave yourself enough space and time to react if something unexpected occurs. Have fun!

I only have the Basic certification, as I have not had any need to operate in controlled airspace. But my understanding is that the Flight Review for the Advanced certificate is all about having checklists and procedures in place to convince the reviewer that you know what you're doing and can operate "safely".

 

[KLJ5]

Yes, regarding paragraph 1. Recurrent training every 6 months which includes two 4 hour simulator sessions.
Just working my way through advanced groundschool procedures. There's really a ton of stuff! I'll be 78 in 2 months, so this is really loading up my old brain. :>)

 

[Robert Prior]

There's no such thing as a "flyaway", but if there was, you probably couldn;t do anything anyway.

Don Joyce had one which he thinks was caused by an IMU error. (And he credits you in the video for figuring it out )

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Things that could be done include (crash) landing the drone somewhere safe (if you have altitude control), and contacting ATC to report it.

I use Drone Pilot Canada which comes with preloaded checklists for things like this.

Drone Pilot Canada

dronepilotcanada.com

Here is a summary of one of the emergency checklists (which I think is the kind of thing KLJ5 is after for their flight review):

Vertical flyaway

• attempt to reconnect aircraft by adjusting antenna, restarting control unit and/or control software
• call the shift manager at the Area Control Centre for the FIR you are flying in
• if unable to reach FIR ACC, call nearest airport with a control tower
• if there is an imminent and immediate threat to aviation and public safety, call the Aviation Emergency Number (given in the app, not certain if I should post it here?)

Script for talking to ATC/operators

• hello, my name is (name)
• I have lost control of my RPAS, a (drone type)
• I am located (distance), heading (direction) of (aerodrome)
• my RPAS was flying at an altitude of (altitude in feet) and is climbing vertically at a rate of (vertical speed) feet per second
• the battery is about (percentage) remaining, its RPAS category is (category), its weight is (weight) grams, its colour is (colour)

KLJ5, thanks for reminding me I need to print these out and laminate them to stick in my drone bag. I've practiced them (not actually restarting control unit etc, but walking myself through the procedure) but not enough for them to be memory items. Possibly having a printed checklist with you would be something the flight reviewer would like?