UAS	Operating	Instruction Engineering	Systems	Incorporated October 2015

OVERVIEW ESI	leadership	authorizes	and	encourages	the	use	of	unmanned	aviation systems	to	support the	mission	of	providing	world

- class	analysis	and	engineering support	to	our customers	across	all	engineering	disciplines	represented	within	the
company. As	a	company	operating	unmanned	systems,	we	are	asking	the	public sector	to	accept	the	risk	of	our	operations	and	thus	it	is	incumbent	upon	us	to provide	a	well	planned	and	docum ented approach	to	ensure our	UAS	operations	are at	all	times	in	support	of public	safety

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PURPOSE This	operating	instruction	provides	instructions	for	the	s afe	and	effective operation	of	UAS	( Unmanned	Aviation	Systems)	for	all	ESI	employees	t hat	wish	to

c onduct	commercial UAS	opera tions	on	behalf	of	the	company.		Note	that	no	portion of	this	instruction s upersedes	any	FAA	or	State	regulation/operating	procedure. Any	portion	of	this	instruction,	which	contradicts	these r egulations, will	be disregarded. I n	addition,	all	operations	will	be	conducted	within	the	constraints	set forth	in	the	approved	ES I	FAA	Pa rt	333	Exemption	once	it	is	rec e i ved

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ROLES	AND	RESPONSIBILITIES

• The	Aviation	Practice	Group	Director will:

o Maintain	primary	responsibility	for	oversight	o f	the	UAS	program.

o Ensure PIC/O pe rator/O bserver training	and	certification	standards are being met	for	each ESI	office	that	is	conducting UAS	operation s

o Act	as	a	point	of	contact	with	the ESI	leadership	and	the	FAA for	all	UAS

related	operations	and	issu es

o Identify	and	maintain	a	list	of	individuals	qualified	to	conduct	UAS training	operations.

o Conduct an	annual safety	re view of ESI	UAS	operations	in	accordance with	the	ESI	Aviation	Safety	Management	System.

o Review	and	update	this	document	annually	t o	ensure	it’s	relevance.

• Each owning	ESI	office manager for	a	given unmanned	system will:

o Maintain	a n	aircraft	folder	for	each	UAS	operated	by	their	office	which contains	the information set	forth	in	the	maintenance	section	of	this instruction.

o Maintain	op erator	folders	for	each	qualified	operator

, ( or	operator	in training ) per	the	operator	folder	section	of	this	instruction.

o Ensure PIC,	Operator	and	O bserver	qualifications	are	met	for	each	UAS flight in accordance	with	this	instruction

. o Identify	a	maintena nce	POC	for	their	unmanned	systems.

• The	PIC,	operators,	and	observers	for	each	mission	will :

o Maintain	qualification	standards	for	the	UAS	being	flowno Ensure	safety	during	the	UAS	flight

o Maintain	two

- way	communicati on	with	all	participants	and	each	other at all	times	during	UAS	operation

o Specifically	the	Observer	and	Op erator	for	a	given	mission	must:

§ M aintain	visual	contact	with	the	UAS	at	all	times	during	the	flight

§ E nsure	safe	separation	distances	between	the	UAS	and	all	other aircraft or personnel within the	designated	mission	area. Non

participants	must	be	kept	at	least	500	feet	from	the	mission	area.

TRAINING Training	required	to	operate	unmanned	aircraft	systems	on	behalf	of	ESI	will be	conducted	according	to	the	ESI	Operator	Training	Instruction	doc ument.

CERTIFICATIONS There	are	four	positions	that	one	can	be	certified	in	the	area	of	UAS	operations	in ESI.		They	are	as	follows:

• PIC	(Pilot	In	Command ):	This	person	is	the	approval	authority	and	holds	the responsibility	for	a	given	UAS	mission	that is	conducted.

• OBSERVER:	This	person	holds	the	responsibility	for	de

- confliction	from airborne	and	ground	hazards	for	the	duration	of	the	mission.	This	position	is used	to	maintain	visual	contact	with	the	UAS	and	clear	the	expected operations	from	potenti al	hazards	during	the	mission.

• MANUAL	OPERATOR:		This	is	the	manual	operator	of	the	UAS	aircraft whereby	manual	inputs	control	the	pitch,	roll,	yaw,	and	power	state	of	the aircraft.		It	assumes	visual	awareness	of	the	aircraft	whether	it	is	by observing the	aircraft	from	the	ground	or	by	observing	the	outputs	of	a	video transmission	system	from	a	ground	station.

• AUTO	PILOT	OPERATOR:		This	is	the	autopilot	operator	of	an	unmanned aircraft	system.		This	position	manages	the	location/attitude/speed	of	the ai rcraft	over	the	ground	through	the	use	of	an	autopilot	system.

DOCUMENTATION

• All	training	and	certifications	for	each	position	will	be	documented	in	each individual’s	Operator	Folder.

• Following	the	successful	completion	of	training	for	a	given position,	t h e	trainer will	sign	off	the	training	as	complete	and	each	office	manager	will	sign	off	the certification	letter	approving	the	individual	to	operate	in	the	new	capacity.

• Each	office’s	training	and	certification	letters	will	be	tracked	and	revi ewed annually	by	the	Aviation	Practice	Group	Director	to	ensure	oversight	and	proper insurance	requirements	are	maintained

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FLIGHT	OPERATIONS• PREFLIGHT	BRIEFING

o Preflight	briefings	should	be	given	by	the	PIC	and	include	the	basic briefing	topics	as	found in	Append ix	A ,	and	any	additional	items	deemed necessary	by	the	PIC.		All	participants,	(those	who	remain	within	500	feet of	the	mission	aircraft),	must	be	briefed	about	the	mission	and	all	safety precautions	of	the	flight.

• EQUIPMENT	PREFLIGHT

o Safety	eq uipment,	to	be	available	during	a	given	mission.

§ Safety	goggles	will	be	worn	when	touching	or	working	on	the aircraft	with motor power	connected.

§ Gloves	for	emergency	retrieval of	crashed	aircraft

§ An	orange	caution	vest	will	be	worn	by	the	PIC	during	the	m ission

§ A	coach	type	whistle	will	be	worn	by	the	PIC	during	mission execution	to	get	the	attention	of	all	participants.

§ A	shovel	must	be	available	to	handle	potential	fires	and	to	secure overheated	batteries.

§ A	first	aid	kit	must	be	located	near	the	mission area	to	support emergency	situations.

§ A	fire	extinguisher	must	be	located	near	the	mission	area	to	fight any	fires	that	may	occur	as	a	result	of	the	mission.

• SAFE	OPERATING	ZONES

o The	PIC	is	expected	to	ensure	the	operating	area	for	the	mission	remains cle ar	of	Non

- participating	personnel	and	that	a	reasonable	expectation	of this	can	be	expected	for	the	duration	of	the	mission.		If	not,	the	PIC	must be	ready	to	cancel	operations	and	attempt	to	secure	the	mission	area prior	to	launch.

• PARTICIPANT	DOCUMENTATI ON

o All	participants,	if	not	employees	of	ESI

, must	sign	a	release	from	liability waiver	form	to	be	allowed	to	remain	within	500	feet	of	the	mission.

• PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS

• As	a	minimum,	every	UAS	mission	will	require	two	personnel	dedicated	to the	conduct	of	the	mission.

• Each	mission	must	include	a	PIC	(Pilot	In	Command)	who	acts	as	the authority	for	the	flight	to	insure	safe	and	effective	operations.

• Each	mission	must	inc lude	an	Observer	to	provide	for	the	safety	and	effective de

- confliction	from	non

- participant	aircraft	and	personnel.

• Each	mission	must	include	a	trained	operator	of	some	form(autopilot	or manual	operator).

• The	PIC	may	act	as	either	the	observer	or	the	o perator	on	a	given	mission, but	may	not	assume	both	of	these	duties.		It	is	for	this	reason	that	each mission	requires	two	dedicated	personnel.

EQUIPMENT

• TRACKINGo All	ESI	equipment,	to	include	aircraft	and	batteries	will	be	tracked according	to	normal	ES I	equipment	tracking	procedures.		In	addition	an aircraft	folder	will	be	maintained	on	each	flying	system	to	ensure	timely maintenance	is	performed.		Each	aircraft	will	be	given	a	unique	ESI	tail number.		Flight	hours

, per	tail	number

, will	be	reported	ann ually	by	each office	that	is	operating an	unmanned	system

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• MAINTENANCE

o Maintenance	on	all	aircraft	systems	and	batteries	will	be	conducted according	to	the	manufacturer’s	recommendations.		Each	office	will appoint	a	UAS	maintainer	to	ensure	aircraft	are	pr operly serviced	and maintained.

o Each	Aircraft	folder	will	contain:

§ ESI	Aircraft/System	ID	Form,	( Make,	model,	and	year of	aircraft )

§ Aircraft/System	Flight	Log

§ Aircraft/System D escription ,	(manufacturer	suppl ied	docs )

§ Aircraft/System	Checklists	and Operations	Manuals, (manufacturer	supplied	docs)

EMERGENCY/NON

- STANDARD	PROCEDURES

• The	following	procedures	represent	the	minimum	set	of	emergency	procedures that	m ust	be	followed	for	a	given	emergency

. PIC s	are	encouraged	to	add	steps to	the	EPs	as	necessary for	a	given	mission	as	required	to	enhance	safety	for	all parties.

• Critical	battery/low	fuel	or	fast	battery	discharge :		The	aircraft	operator must	be	ready	to	land	the	aircraft	at	an	alternate	landing location	in	the	event	of rapid	battery	loss.

• Non

- Participant	Encroachment :		If	non

- participants	cannot	be	cleared	500	feet from	the	mission	aircraft,	then	the	mission	aircraft	must	land	and/or	the	aircraft operator	must	make	corrections	to	the	flight	p ath	to	ensure	the	safety	of	all parties.

• Aircraft	separation incidents: If	a	non

- participating	aircraft	flies	into	the	UAS operations	area,	the	observer	must	notify	the	pilot	immediately	and	provide necessary	actions	to	avoid	collision	between	the	UAS	a nd the	non

- participating aircraft.		To	the	best	extent	possible,	the	UAS	should	fly no	closer	than	1000	feet of	non

- participating	aircraft

. After	evasive	actions	have	be en	successfully	taken, the	operator	must	notify	the	PIC of	the	near	miss	to	include	a description	of	the other	aircraft	if	possible .		The	PIC	will	determine	if	contact	should	be	made	to aviation	authorities	regarding	the	situation.		If	the	safety	of	either	aircraft	or	any personnel	were	at	risk	during	the	incident,	the	situation	must	be	rep orted	to	the Aviation	Practice	Group	Director	and	subsequently	to	the	local	FAA	authorities.• Lost	Link : The	aircraft	is	expected to	return	to	the	original	launching	point,	or to	a	pre

- determined	location	that	has	been	deemed	safe	for	an	emergency landing

. All	personnel	should	be	immediately	warned	of	the	returning	UAS	so that	the	landing	area	can	be	maintained	clear.		Subsequent	control	of	the	aircraft should	be	attempted	during	the	automatic	RTB(return	to	base)	of	the	system	so that	emergency	maneuvering or	subsequent	issues	can	be	handled	with	a	“man
in

- the

- loop”.

• Loss	of	visual	contact: If	an	observer	loses	visual	contact	with	the	aircraft, he/she	should	report	the	situation	to	the	pilot	immediately

. The	operator will command	the	aircraft	to	return	to	a	pre

- designated	point	and	attempt	to	help	the observer	regain	visual	contact	by	calling	out	position	and	heading

. If	the observer	cannot	regain	visual	contact ,	the	operator	will	notify	the	PIC of	the	last known	pos ition	of	the	aircraft	and	intentions,	attempt	to	clear	the	area	for	any other	aircraft or	personnel and	land	the	vehicle	as	soon	as	practicable

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• Downed	Unmanned	Aircraft: If	the	vehicle	is	observed	to	crash,	or	if	it	has been	determined	that	the	aircraft is	no	longer	airborne,	the	operator	will	ensure the	propulsive	aircraft	system	has	been	disabled	to	the	best	of	their	ability	and will	note	the	last	known	location	of	the	vehicle	either	visually	or	with	GPS coordinates.		The	PIC	will	notify	all	participant s	of	the	situation	and	begin	a search	for	the	downed	vehicle	in	the	last	known	location.		If	a	fire,	dangerous situation,	or	injuries	are	observed	or	suspected,	the	PIC	will	notify	the appropriate	emergency	services	(911	call).		Emergency	equipment,	to	inc lude fire	extinguisher,	gloves,	and	a	shovel	will	be	carried	when	commencing	a	search for	a	downed	aircraft.		Be	alert	for	overheated	batteries	due	to	impact	damage and	subsequent	grass	fires	that	may	erupt.