The commercial use of drones has grown exponentially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with good reason. They can provide contact-free inspections for maintenance and construction purposes as well be used as a photography tool. Drones are also increasing in popularity due to their potential for final mile delivery of medicines and food to the most vulnerable people, allowing them to stay at home during the imposed lockdown and sheltering orders.
Why go digital?
Drones have proved themselves to be invaluable and action is needed now to ensure that they can continue to operate effectively and safely, Many drone delivery companies are now in the process of applying for Part 135 certification from the FAA in an effort to bring manned and unmanned aviation together. We expect to see a surge in drone companies pursuing deliveries under Part 135 as a result of the pandemic, bringing with it an influx of manuals and regulatory documentation that will need to be managed.
As the use of drones rises, both for emergency response situations and everyday deliveries, we expect their operation to become more in line with manned aircraft in terms of regulations needed. This in turn will mean that newly Part 135 certified drone operators will need digital solutions to manage their growing compliance documentation efficiently.
At Web Manuals
Since March, Web Manuals has doubled the number of drone operator customers digitizing their documentation to ensure Part 135 Air Carrier compliance, following an influx of applications for the FAA certification.
To help support these companies, this month we added the IR 2020/746 (IR 2019/947) EU regulations to our libraries alongside the Part 135 documentation. Available on request, these can be easily integrated into customers’ existing portfolio of manuals and regulatory documentation.
By Krister Genmark, Director of Operations Americas
If you want to find out more about this topic, we suggest reading our colleague Louise Persson’s article: Navigating the US Framework for Unmanned Aircraft Systems’ Path to Compliance.