DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Rules in Chile - register and parachute?

Skydog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
76
Reactions
17
I'm going down to Chile in January and was trying to research the rules and most the websites are in Spanish. Does anyone know the rules down there that can translate to plain English. It looks like you need to register and have a parachute for your drone.

Can anyone shed light on this? Looking to fly near Torres del Paine park, are there any park limitations?

Thanks




Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ian Lyons
Torres del Paine is no-fly zone. You can only fly outside the park limits.
 
  • Like
Reactions: danwnz
I'm going down to Chile in January and was trying to research the rules and most the websites are in Spanish. Does anyone know the rules down there that can translate to plain English. It looks like you need to register and have a parachute for your drone.

Can anyone shed light on this? Looking to fly near Torres del Paine park, are there any park limitations?

Thanks




Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

yes, i can help you. The rules (very summarized) are:

- if your drone weights more than 750gr, you cannot fly over cities or populated zones without a flying plan that is approved in advance by the authority (DGAC)
- if your drone weights less than 750 gr (and it is made of expanded polyethylene or similar), you can fly over cities or populated zones, restricted to 50 meter height and always within line of sight.
- if you want to fly over non-populated zones, you need a flying plan approved in advance in particular by the authority (DGAC).

yes, i know, quite restrictive.

So, i recommend you the following:
- never fly in a big city. Small town, no problems as long as you follow common sense rules and fly within line of sight.
- never fly close to an airport
- you can fly over non-populated zones without permission without problems as long as you follow common sense rules and fly within line of sight.
- if you want to fly in parks, better you ask if you can fly at information center or to a park ranger. Torres del paine park is a no fly zone, but there are other awesome places where you can use your drone.

feel free to contact me if you want.

good luck
 
and yes, parachute is requiered if you want to fly in cities over mass events, but also you need insurances and autorizations
 
yes, i can help you. The rules (very summarized) are:

- if your drone weights more than 750gr, you cannot fly over cities or populated zones without a flying plan that is approved in advance by the authority (DGAC)
- if your drone weights less than 750 gr (and it is made of expanded polyethylene or similar), you can fly over cities or populated zones, restricted to 50 meter height and always within line of sight.
- if you want to fly over non-populated zones, you need a flying plan approved in advance in particular by the authority (DGAC).

yes, i know, quite restrictive.

So, i recommend you the following:
- never fly in a big city. Small town, no problems as long as you follow common sense rules and fly within line of sight.
- never fly close to an airport
- you can fly over non-populated zones without permission without problems as long as you follow common sense rules and fly within line of sight.
- if you want to fly in parks, better you ask if you can fly at information center or to a park ranger. Torres del paine park is a no fly zone, but there are other awesome places where you can use your drone.

feel free to contact me if you want.

good luck

Thanks for the detailed info! And thanks @Skydog for strating the topic.

I'll be traveling to Chile (flying in Puerto Montt, then driving to Puenta Arenas). I'm thinking of bringing my Mavic but I'm wondering two things:

From the above it seems like registering the drone and getting a license is not exactly required/enforced? Will I be asked questions at the custom as I'll be entering the country (and re-entering as I'll be driving in and out of Argentina) ?

I'm always flying responsibly and will not fly in Parks, but I'm sure there are plenty of other lovely (non habited) place to fly over.

Thanks in advance for any informations you might help with!
 
I'm going down to Chile in January and was trying to research the rules and most the websites are in Spanish. Does anyone know the rules down there that can translate to plain English. It looks like you need to register and have a parachute for your drone.

Can anyone shed light on this? Looking to fly near Torres del Paine park, are there any park limitations?

Thanks




Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots


Hello Skydog, did you ended up bringing/flying your drone?
Mind sharing your experience?

Thanks!
 
Thanks for the detailed info! And thanks @Skydog for strating the topic.

I'll be traveling to Chile (flying in Puerto Montt, then driving to Puenta Arenas). I'm thinking of bringing my Mavic but I'm wondering two things:

From the above it seems like registering the drone and getting a license is not exactly required/enforced? Will I be asked questions at the custom as I'll be entering the country (and re-entering as I'll be driving in and out of Argentina) ?

I'm always flying responsibly and will not fly in Parks, but I'm sure there are plenty of other lovely (non habited) place to fly over.

Thanks in advance for any informations you might help with!

Hi,

"From the above it seems like registering the drone and getting a license is not exactly required/enforced?" Yes, in practice it only will be required if you fly over big cities, stadiums, and so on. And you need also a flight plan previously authorized.

"Will I be asked questions at the custom as I'll be entering the country (and re-entering as I'll be driving in and out of Argentina) ?" I think not, but better you ask to customs officer when you arrive to Chile. Maybe you have to fill a form, but besides of that, you wouln't have a problem. Argentina, well, i don't know. But in general the Mavic is so small that it passes as a DSLR photo camera :)

Only thing is, i have seen some warnings in airports about to carrying batteries with a capacity over 160 Wh as the IATA states. You have to declare the equipment prior to flight. But each mavic battery is about 45 Wh so in the most restrictive situation, 3 batteries sums less than 160 Wh so you can flight with them in the carry-on baggage. In fact, i did that a couple of times without problems.

best regards.
 
Hi,

"From the above it seems like registering the drone and getting a license is not exactly required/enforced?" Yes, in practice it only will be required if you fly over big cities, stadiums, and so on. And you need also a flight plan previously authorized.
...

Awesome! Thank you so much for the answers Raberrio. I'm not planning on flying over cities at all as my trip is really geared toward remote locations and wilderness.

Thank you very much for this super helpful information!
 
Hello Skydog, did you ended up bringing/flying your drone?
Mind sharing your experience?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I did take the drone to Chile and flew in Punta Arenas and just outside the Torres del Paine Park with no issues. I didn't fly anywhere near people and didn't have troubles. Chile is beautiful if you haven't been. I had no troubles in any of the airports either. I brought the drone in as carry on, which is required given the lipo batteries. While in LA a fellow passenger share that he brought his phantom to Peru and customs took it from hi and said he needed to come back with the proper paperwork filled out. He was able to get it done at the air airport luckily.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots
 
Hi all,

I did take the drone to Chile and flew in Punta Arenas and just outside the Torres del Paine Park with no issues. I didn't fly anywhere near people and didn't have troubles. Chile is beautiful if you haven't been. I had no troubles in any of the airports either. I brought the drone in as carry on, which is required given the lipo batteries. While in LA a fellow passenger share that he brought his phantom to Peru and customs took it from hi and said he needed to come back with the proper paperwork filled out. He was able to get it done at the air airport luckily.

Awesome thank you!

I'm very very much looking froward to it!
 
Hi all,

I did take the drone to Chile and flew in Punta Arenas and just outside the Torres del Paine Park with no issues. I didn't fly anywhere near people and didn't have troubles. Chile is beautiful if you haven't been. I had no troubles in any of the airports either. I brought the drone in as carry on, which is required given the lipo batteries. While in LA a fellow passenger share that he brought his phantom to Peru and customs took it from hi and said he needed to come back with the proper paperwork filled out. He was able to get it done at the air airport luckily.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

Thanks Skydog, I had no issues either, and I'm very very glad I took it:


;)
 
Thanks Skydog, I had no issues either, and I'm very very glad I took it:

;)

Amazing video, lovely places to visit no doubt. Congrats and thanks for sharing. Definitely Chile is on my list.
 
Visiting Chile soon. Thanks guys for the info. And @flystef great footage! Also, have you guys been to Peru and Argentina? How're the rules there?
 
Visiting Chile soon. Thanks guys for the info. And @flystef great footage! Also, have you guys been to Peru and Argentina? How're the rules there?

Thanks ZeeQee.
I've been to Argentina by land (through a very very remote border post) from Chile, flying there was fine (although very very windy!), but I got a few questions at the border crossing. I *think* that flying directly to Argentina you might get more questions at the customs at best... not sure. I would research that and lookup the rules there if you want to get your drone through...
As for Peru this is complicated, you need to get authorization from the government over there and they will hold your drone at the custom until you get one (which needs to happen in person, in Lima, that's a week of waiting there for that). So I do not recommend trying to bring your drone there... kinda sad because there is so many nice places to capture, but I think they got a bit tired of people not respecting rules (Machu Picchu for instance is forbidden, yet if you google it...).

Best of luck!
 
hi, i am off to chile in a month. i have read the post about possibly needing to register the mavic. i can't find a definitive answer if i need to register the mavic or not and not sure about the parachutes.

can anyone please give me some advice

thanks
 
This is from the dgac.

Regarding your question, you can operate RPAs weighting less than 750 grams without requiring an authorization if you fly it on private places with recreational purposes and not higher than 50 meters over the highest construction and always on sight.

If you want to fly it commercially you must consider the following regulations:
a. DAN 151
Standard recently published regulating or drones RPAS operations with weight equal to or less than 9 Kg., Which are made on populated areas and in public interest. Normally these flights are associated with photographs and film footage in support of media, government agencies or disaster situations. This rule, in general, requires:
Registration RPAS, for which you can contact Guillermo Gallardo ([email protected]) to phone+56 02 2439 2664 or Fernando Neira ([email protected]) to phone +56 02 2439 2692 or Don Jorge Gárate (jgarate @ dgac.gob.cl) to phone +56 02 224392684 or with Mr. Gabriel Toledo ([email protected]) to phone +56 02 2439 2652.
Credential to operate RPAS, for which you can contact Miss Paola Maraboli ([email protected]) to phone +56 02 2439 2423 with a copy to [email protected] or Miss Claudia Lara ([email protected] cl) to phone +56 02 2439 2163.
Authorization for which, once obtained the two previous documents, should contact Juan Henriquez L. ([email protected]) to phone +56 02 2439 2294/2300, with a copy to [email protected] and [email protected] identifying the body which will support which should cover an activity of public interest, such as news coverage, emergency or disaster situation or another.
• The application forms are annexed to this standard.

b . DAN 91
This policy applies to all flights other than the above, which is made in places unpopulated, for which does not require the drone register or obtain credential operator simply just seek authorization, which after an analysis may be granted.
To the above should use the authorization form provided for this in Annex D of the DAN 91, which must be sent seven days prior to the same recipients of this mail , also attaching a file Google Earth to fly industry and detailing the points of takeoff and landing.

c. Both rules, that I adjust, are available on the web page in the Link www.dgac.gob.cl regulations.

d. Regarding the provision of insurance for damage to third parties, the following insurance agents, has processed for other operators and whose telephone numbers are:
Mr. Danilo Veyl, phone: + 56 2 2397 2566 y 2880 1146, email [email protected].
GENNOA Corredores de Seguro, Mr. Rodrigo León [email protected] teléfono +56 9 5657 2492.
Mr. Camilo Restrepo E., phone: +56 2 2429 4410, cel: +56 9 4228 1895, email www.howdenpatagonia.cl

Anyway I recommend you check directly in other insurance companies.

To fly over Easter Island you must ask for authorization to CODEIPA (Corporación de Desarrollo Indígena de la Isla de Pascua).

On national parks that are managed by CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal), information is available on www.conaf.cl

Finally importing a RPAS into Chile is not under the DGAC competence, so I suggest contact Servicio Nacional de Aduanas (Chilean Customs, www.aduana.cl) in the “contact” link, where you will find a form to submit your inquiry.

Kind regards
 
  • Like
Reactions: iBallesty
If you are flying in unpopulated areas you do not need to be registered or have a license. I reads that you do need to submit your flight plan to the emails listed with Google map, flight plan, etc. for authorization.
 
If you can send your drone DHL to someone in Chile I advise you do that. Chilean customs will try to rob you. If you have to fly with it, make sure your IT guy or someone with an support domain like an accountant even, has a copy of the receipt for the drone so they can email it when you have to send them a panicked message that customs has your drone. It has better effect than actually carrying the paper copy of the receipt or even logging into your own email to get it.

Be more afraid of getting the drone past customs than actually flying it in Chile, it's not just Americans that they pull that on, even affluent Chileans get their drones snatched by customs.
 
If you can send your drone DHL to someone in Chile I advise you do that. Chilean customs will try to rob you. If you have to fly with it, make sure your IT guy or someone with an support domain like an accountant even, has a copy of the receipt for the drone so they can email it when you have to send them a panicked message that customs has your drone. It has better effect than actually carrying the paper copy of the receipt or even logging into your own email to get it.

Be more afraid of getting the drone past customs than actually flying it in Chile, it's not just Americans that they pull that on, even affluent Chileans get their drones snatched by customs.
Quite an old post, but I ask again. I do plan to fly to Chile and Argentina, this November and don't want to have issues with my Mavic. I will pass multiple times by plane or by car from this two countries, all the way from Santiago to Ushuaia. I know it's going to be windy and maybe it will be just a heavy unused bag, but I rather not lose time at the borders because of it.
So has anyone had delays, issues with with/at borders/terminals ?
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,599
Messages
1,554,247
Members
159,603
Latest member
refrigasketscanada