PDRA01 Site Survey Template

PDRA01 can support flights in residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas, but it does not remove airspace restrictions, separation requirements, land access rules or the need to manage local hazards. The survey is where those site-specific factors become operational controls.

The CAA includes feasibility and site-survey forms in the topics for a PDRA01 Operations Manual. Keep the completed record with the flight evidence so a reviewer can follow the decision.

Record the purpose, proposed date and time, operating area, aircraft, people involved and intended flight profile. A survey cannot be meaningful if it is detached from the operation it is assessing.

Record which current sources were checked, when they were checked and the outcome. Consider Flight Restriction Zones, restricted or danger areas, temporary restrictions and any permission required to enter controlled or protected airspace.

A screenshot alone can lose context. Include the check time, location, source and the person who made the decision, then repeat time-sensitive checks close enough to the flight to catch changes.

Map likely routes for uninvolved people, entrances, roads, neighbouring property and places where an assembly could form. Decide how the team will maintain the separations and minimise overflight required by the authorisation.

Record landowner or site-manager permission where needed and define who controls the take-off and landing area. If a control relies on barriers, observers or a temporary cordon, state who will install and monitor it.

Consider structures, wires, trees, electromagnetic interference, vehicles, animals, weather exposure, poor GNSS performance and other site-specific hazards. Each significant hazard needs a practical control or a no-go threshold.

Identify emergency landing areas, loss-of-control considerations, emergency contacts and how access for emergency services would be maintained. Brief these arrangements before flight and update them if the site changes.

Finish with an explicit go, go-with-controls or no-go result, signed or otherwise attributable to the responsible person. Record outstanding permissions and conditions that must be satisfied before launch.

On arrival, confirm that the survey still matches reality. Capture changes in weather, public access, airspace or site layout and document the resulting decision rather than silently relying on the earlier plan.