WBK Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

Overview

Key Facts:

The WBK Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) process offered by ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences has been created to guarantee safety of manned aircraft a well-established process exists. The topic of safety for unmanned aircraft has been under discussion for several years. The approach cannot be the same as for manned aircraft for many reasons. To complicate the situation, the availability of cheap components and the potential 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.

This continuing education course includes various activities such as lectures supported by practical examples, and days where the concepts discussed are applied to real case studies.