The State Aviation Safety Agency, AESA, has recently published the guide for practical training in the European standard scenarios, STS-01 and STS-02, different from the national STS-ES-01 and STS-ES-02.
Implementing Regulation EU 947/2019 establishes in point 4 of article 23 the possibility of Member States to develop national standard scenarios equivalent to those established in the regulation itself, valid during the transitional period. Therefore, both scenarios, national (STS-ES) and European (STS) will coexist until 12/31/2025, the date on which operations with UAS will no longer be possible under the STS-ES.
The main difference between the European standard scenarios (defined in the aforementioned Implementing Regulation) and the national ones (defined in provision 16949/2020 under the protection of the Implementing Regulation), lies mainly in the aircraft with which each of them can be flown. them, and the necessary practical training. The STS theoretical certificate is the same for all of them.
STS-ES-01: Aircraft less than 10kg and/or C5 aircraft
STS-ES-02: Aircraft less than 25kg and/or C6 aircraft
STS-01: C5 aircraft only
STS-02: C6 aircraft only
Given the lack of a sufficient variety of aircraft with class labeling or marking C5 and C6 or conversion kits for C3 to C5 aircraft in the market, it is difficult to fly under the European STS standard scenarios, as well as to offer practical training for them. , since it must be done with the aforementioned UAS with their class labels.
It is curious that DJI has not yet commented on the matter. It has not been revealed whether conversion kits will be marketed for its drones already introduced on the market, such as the Matrice 300/350, Matrice 30 or Inspire 3, or new aircraft with these markings will be put on the market. There are very few manufacturers that market conversion kits or UAS with these class markings, so the supply is very limited, and the demand will tend to increase, as the deadline for operating the STS-ES is reached, the December 31, 2025.
UAS operators who want to carry out operations under the European standard scenarios in the specific category must issue an operational declaration to AESA, covered by the necessary documents and with the registration of the corresponding UAS, which must have class C5 marking. or C6, depending on the scenario.
Regarding training for practical accreditations for European standard scenarios, entities recognized by AESA and UAS operators that intend to provide practical remote pilot training in European standard scenarios (STS) must declare themselves to do so, following the scheme that AESA itself proposes, modifying its instruction manuals and procedures in accordance with the published training guides.
UAS with the corresponding class labels for each scenario must be used for this, and as the main novelty, flights must be dispensed with during practices in ATTI mode or without stabilization aids using GNSS (GPS) systems.
AESA establishes a conversion procedure for pilots who currently have the STS theoretical certificate and practical training accreditations for the STS-ES.
Following the conversion guide itself, it is established:
- The theoretical knowledge certificate is adapted to Implementing Regulation 947/2019 and is unique to the specific category, so it will be valid to operate in both national standard scenarios (STS-ES) and European standard scenarios.
(STS). Therefore, all those remote pilots who wish to 'convert' their theoretical certificates into a specific category will only have to check the expiration date of their certificates. If these are close to their expiration, an update of the validity date must be carried out.
- Remote pilots who have obtained their practical remote pilot certification based on the national standard scenarios (STS-ES), must take an additional practical passing test in order to adapt their training to the European standard scenarios (STS). , before a Recognized Entity or UAS Operator
declared to carry out practical training in European standard scenarios (STS). Regarding training in ATTI mode or equivalent system, it will not be a requirement to perform maneuvers in this mode in the conversion procedure, the training of the national standard scenarios being valid.
Practical training can continue to be provided for the national standard scenarios (STS-ES), but it must be updated to the new regulatory requirements, such as the DRI, when carrying out flights in a specific category, even if they are simulated (Really only mandatory for BVLOS in STS -ES-02). The requirement to carry out flights in ATTI for the practical training in the STS-ES.
You can consult more information on the AESA website.
https://www.seguroaerea.gob.es/es/ambitos/drones/entidades-de-formacion-uas-drones/entidades-de-formacion-en-escenarios-estandar-europeos-sts
