WBK Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)

To guarantee safety of manned aircraft a well-established process exists. This requires a complex structure comprising approved manufacturers, design organisations, training organisations and operators. This process is a very heavy burden for the industry; nevertheless, it is necessary in order to guarantee the safety of manned aircraft flight. The effectiveness of this approach is evident from the industry’s excellent track record.

The topic of safety for unmanned aircraft has been underdiscussion for several years. The approach cannot be the same as for manned aircraft for many reasons. To complicatethe situation, the availability of cheap components and thepotential versatility of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have led to the creation of many small manufacturers and operators of UAVs. It is not uncommon that the personnel of these companies do not have any experience of the safety process for manned aircraft.

In this scenario, certification authorities, such as EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency), want to establish clear rules that will guarantee the safety of UAV operations. Their intention is that these rules should not prevent the development of new UAV-based applications and that they should not be complex enough to require an extensive aviation background. This effort has led to the creation of the SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment) process. It should be noted that the Federal Office for Civil Aviation (FOCA) has played an instrumental role in this effort.

Logistics

The overarching process management for planning, management and controlling of material, value and information flows is not only decisive for success but often even a factor relevant for survival.

Our DAS and CAS continuing education programmes in the field of Process and Logistics Management look at the logistics sector as a whole and introduce you to the overarching business processes of the globally networked economy.