Rep. Yoon Kwan-seok Establishes Basis for Outsourcing Ultralight Aircraft Operations
Unification of safety management through the partial amendment bill to the Aviation Safety Act

A systematic management plan for ultralight aircraft, such as drones, will be established.
Representative Yoon Kwan-seok (Incheon Namdong-eul) of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee proposed a partial amendment to the Aviation Safety Act on February 10, which includes provisions regarding the entrustment of ultralight aircraft registration duties.

Recently, as the demand for ultralight aircraft such as drones continues to increase, illegal activities involving the unauthorized modification of products to exceed takeoff weight limits are becoming more common. Consequently, concerns about safety accidents and demands for systematic safety management are increasing.

However, under current laws, systematic safety management is not possible due to limitations in the agencies responsible for tasks such as reporting, pilot certification, and flight experience management aimed at establishing an integrated safety management system for ultralight aircraft.

Accordingly, Assemblyman Yoon Kwan-seok entrusted the task of reporting ultralight aircraft to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, which currently performs safety management duties such as pilot certification and the designation and inspection of specialized training institutions, thereby centralizing the management of aircraft information, flight history, owners, and pilots.

If this bill passes the National Assembly plenary session in the future, it is expected that the unification of personnel reporting ultralight aircraft and flight experience management will enable the assurance of reliability in flight experience certification for aircraft safety management and qualification acquisition, as well as the training of high-level pilots through pilot career management.

Representative Yoon Kwan-seok stated, “Unified management will strengthen safety control for ultralight aircraft such as drones and enable the revitalization of the industry through the training of highly skilled pilots,” adding, “I will devote myself to legislative activities for public safety and industrial development.”

Meanwhile, the bill to partially amend the Aviation Safety Act was jointly proposed by lawmakers Park Jae-ho, Kim Jung-woo, Cho Jung-sik, Shin Dong-geun, Park Hong-geun, Ahn Ho-young, Lee Yong-deuk, Kim Sang-hee, and Jung Sung-ho.