The rule, with what it groups night with
“(1) A person may operate an unmanned aircraft: (a) in or into cloud; or (b) at night; or (c) in conditions other than VMC; only if permitted by another provision of this Part, or in accordance with an air traffic control direction.”
“(1A) Subregulation (1) does not apply if the person holds an approval under regulation 101.029 for the purposes of this subregulation.”Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, r 101.095
Breaching subregulation (1) is an offence of strict liability, with a maximum of 25 penalty units. Night also sits outside the standard RPA operating conditions, which require flight “at or below 400 ft AGL by day”, so a night flight cannot rest on the excluded RPA cases that depend on those conditions (see the standard operating conditions).
Who the approval covers
CASA 01/17 was made under rr 11.056 and 101.029 and r 101.095(1A). It “applies to the operation of an RPA, other than a large RPA, by a person who holds a certificate as an RPA operator”. It makes two approvals:
- “The operator is approved to operate the RPA at night.” (s 5(1)), subject to the conditions in Schedules 1 and 2;
- “An authorised remote pilot is approved to operate the RPA at night.” (s 5(2)), subject to the conditions in Schedule 2.
An authorised remote pilot is the operator’s chief remote pilot, or a person the chief remote pilot authorises under clauses 8 and 9 of Schedule 1.
Conditions on the operator
The compilation prints these clauses of Schedule 1, numbered 1 to 6 and 8 to 10, all set out here.
- Clauses 1 and 2: training and testing
- Documented practices and procedures for training and testing people to fly RPA at night, approved in writing by CASA or by a CASA Manager or Team Leader responsible for regulatory oversight of RPA operations. Those in the RPAS Sample Operations Manual “are taken to be approved by CASA”.
- Clauses 3 and 4: records
- Approved documented practices and procedures for making records of the training and testing of authorised remote pilots, and for keeping those records; the Sample Operations Manual’s procedures are again taken to be approved.
- Clauses 5 and 6: risk
- Approved documented practices and procedures for risk assessment and mitigation for night operation; the Sample Operations Manual’s are taken to be approved.
- Clause 8: who flies
- Only the chief remote pilot, or a person the chief remote pilot authorises.
- Clause 9: before authorising someone
- The chief remote pilot must be satisfied that the person holds a remote pilot licence authorising them to fly the RPA, has the knowledge and practical abilities to fly it, has been approved by the operator under its documented practices and procedures and this instrument, and either has received appropriate training and testing for night operation, or will fly only while being trained or tested.
- Clause 10: every operation
- Before any operation under the approval, the chief remote pilot carries out a risk assessment under the procedures in clause 5.
Conditions on the operator and the pilot, in the field
All six clauses of Schedule 2, in order:
- Comply with a request from CASA to test the pilot’s knowledge and practical abilities to fly the RPA under the instrument.
- Light the launch, landing and recovery areas so the pilot can establish and keep the RPA’s position by visual reference; the instrument’s note gives portable or airfield lighting as examples.
- Fit the RPA with serviceable equipment for a GPS hold and return to home function, and for a GPS lock with a minimum of 7 GPS satellites.
- Make sure the RPA shows orientation lighting in flight.
- Use ground station software so the pilot can assess the RPA’s position.
- Do not fly outdoors in rain, or “if thunderstorms are observed or reported within 5 kilometres of the location of the proposed operation.”
How CASA puts it
CASA’s “Flying at night” page, last updated on 11 October 2024, says that to fly at night you must have a remotely piloted aircraft operator’s certificate (ReOC), and a remote pilot licence (RePL) or employ a licensed remote pilot to fly the RPA. It then lists four further steps: train and test the remote pilot; keep records of that training and testing; carry out a risk assessment and mitigation for the operation; and document the practices and procedures.
For that last step it gives two routes: “use the templated procedures from sample operations manual and insert a copy of CASA Instrument 01/17 in Appendix C”, or apply for an approval to fly at night with procedures the operator has written.
Night near an aerodrome, and night beyond sight
CASA 40/26, the approval for areas within 3 nautical miles of a controlled aerodrome’s runways, says that even a pilot who may fly at night under CASA 01/17 “must not, during the RPA operation, operate the RPA at night” under that approval. The details are in flying near airports. A night flight beyond the pilot’s visual line of sight needs that permission as well; see beyond visual line of sight.