Draft order "Use of microlights"
Information on the draft order "Use of microlights" put out for consultation
Following several accidents, the BEA has since 2016 issued a series of recommendations on commercial operations in microlights.
These recommendations led the DGAC to study a draft order on the use of microlights, taking care to remain within a pragmatic framework that respects the specific features of the declaration-based system and of the responsibility of the pilot and operator that are unique to French microlight flying.
This draft order was drawn up after work carried out under the direction of the DGAC between 2021 and 2023, in consultation with the FFPLUM and other bodies representing light aviation activities. It aims to respond to these recommendations by supplementing the requirements currently applicable to microlight operators with new requirements for introductory flights and for specific activities carried out for payment.
On the one hand, it has the advantage of bringing the elements of the regulation for operating microlights together in a single document, and on the other, it introduces new provisions applicable to commercial operations carried out in microlights.
Many of the measures in this order are already in place in organisations that offer paid flights, and which will simply carry on applying them. It also seemed important to continue to allow clubs for which introductory flights are a marginal activity (paid introductory flights account for at most 8% of the club's activity) to keep offering them, with simplified procedures that are less demanding than those applying to paid local flights as regards risk management and drawing up an activity manual.
On the medical side, a simple medical certificate of no contraindication signed by a general practitioner will be required for pilots making paid flights with passengers.
In summary, the points to remember about this draft order:
- No change to the conditions of use of microlights for private and leisure use, or for training.
- New provisions to regulate activities carried out in microlights for payment, and more particularly the carriage of a paying passenger.
The order is due to be published in the 4th quarter of 2024, with a transition period of 12 months after its publication in the Journal Officiel
More complete information will be sent to you in the coming days, so that you can give your opinion on this draft, which is out for consultation until the end of April 2024
The FFPLUM Regulation working group
