SWP - RPAS Flight Operations

Flying a department remotely piloted aircraft (RPAS) at an incident, a training session or a planned event, from tasking to data download. It applies to every flight, including a two-minute look over a roof. It does not apply to aircraft flown by police, a mutual aid partner or a contractor, except that section 6 steps 4 and 5 (airspace and deconfliction) apply to any aircraft at a department incident (RPAS Program element 5.11).

• Collision with a helicopter, air tanker, medevac aircraft or another RPAS, especially at wildland incidents where airspace is crowded and side channels have been used (Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, 2024).
• Fly-away or lost link over people, apparatus or a road; falling aircraft.
• Propeller injury at launch and recovery (hand launches; members reaching for a landing aircraft).
• Lithium polymer battery fire or thermal runaway in flight, on charge or after a crash.
• Wires, towers, trees and smoke columns; loss of GPS near steel apparatus and under power lines.
• Night: disorientation, obstacles unseen, launch area hazards.
• Pilot fatigue and distraction; a pilot used as a firefighter between flights.
• Privacy harm from imagery of people, homes and patients; loss of evidence value through poor handling.
• Regulatory breach: flight without authorization in controlled airspace, above 122 m, over an emergency scene without the controlling authority’s permission (Canadian Aviation Regulations [CA], 2026, ss. 901.47 to 901.49).

• Aircraft with current registration mark, approved firmware, inspected propellers, charged and inspected batteries (mission plus 25 percent reserve), controller and tablet, spare battery.
• Pre-flight checklist card (program toolkit T2), flight log and battery log (Form - RPAS Flight and Battery Log).
• Launch pad, cones or tape for the launch and recovery zone, lighting at night.
• Radio on the incident channel and, at wildland or multi-aircraft incidents, the assigned air-to-ground channel.
• Fire-resistant battery bag; a Class ABC extinguisher or a bucket of sand within reach of the launch zone and the charging area; nitrile gloves.
• Helmet and eye protection for the crew in the launch zone.

• Remote pilot in command: Transport Canada Advanced certificate, department ground school, proficiency check inside 12 months, a flight inside 90 days, night endorsement for night flights (RPAS Program element 5.3).
• Visual observer: trained observer, present at every incident flight and whenever the pilot cannot keep the aircraft and the surroundings in view. The pilot and the observer are two different people at incidents.
• Sensor operator: when a payload is operated separately from flying.
• Incident commander: has completed RPAS awareness; tasks the flight and owns the airspace decision at the scene.

Pre-flight checklist. Complete program toolkit T2 (full column, or the emergency column for an immediate operational launch with the rest completed once the aircraft is stable). No launch without items 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13 and 14.

1. Fitness. The pilot and crew declare fitness out loud: no alcohol in 12 hours, no impairing drugs, not fatigued (Canadian Aviation Regulations [CA], 2026, s. 901.19). Anyone who cannot say it does not fly.
2. Tasking. Receive the task from the incident commander: what information, where, for how long. The RPAS unit is logged on the tactical worksheet under the incident management system (NFPA 1550, 2024). A pilot does not self-task.
3. Site survey. Walk or view the launch area: wires, trees, towers, people, apparatus, interference sources; choose a launch and recovery zone at least 10 m from people and apparatus; pick an alternate landing spot (Canadian Aviation Regulations [CA], 2026, s. 901.23).
4. Airspace. Check the airspace class, aerodromes and heliports within 3 NM, and NOTAMs. If controlled airspace, obtain the NAV Drone authorization before any launch (NAV CANADA, n.d.). If an SFOC is required (over a crowd, above 122 m, BVLOS beyond the certificate), there is no flight unless the SFOC is in hand (Canadian Aviation Regulations [CA], 2026, Part IX Divisions IV and V).
5. Deconfliction. Ask the incident commander whether any manned aircraft is expected: medevac helicopter, wildfire aircraft, police, Coast Guard. At a wildland incident, no launch without the air operations function’s approval and the assigned air-to-ground channel on a monitored radio (NFPA 1140, 2022). Never use a side channel. Confirm with police RPAS if present.
6. Weather. Confirm wind, precipitation, temperature, visibility and icing are inside the operations manual minima. Smoke columns count as weather: do not fly through or under a column.
7. Aircraft and battery. Inspect the airframe, propellers, gimbal, lens; inspect the battery for swelling, damage or heat and confirm charge; log the battery serial; confirm controller and tablet charge and antennas.
8. Settings. Confirm GPS lock, compass calibrated (after transport or if prompted), home point set at the launch point, return-to-home altitude above the tallest obstacle, RTH on lost link and low battery enabled, approved firmware. At night, position lights on.
9. Crew brief. Brief the observer on scan sectors, the lost-link plan, the “Land now” call and the alternate landing spot. Brief the sensor operator on the task and the privacy limits (what is not recorded).
10. Launch zone. Secure the zone with cones or tape; announce on the incident channel “RPAS launching from {{Location}}”; confirm nobody is within the zone; crew wear helmets and eye protection. No hand launches.
11. Launch and hover check. Launch to 2 to 3 m, hover, check controls in all axes, check the video link and the battery reading, then proceed. If anything is abnormal, land and do not relaunch until the fault is understood.
12. Flight. Stay within visual line of sight of the pilot or observer, below 122 m AGL, at the distances from bystanders the certificate and aircraft allow (Canadian Aviation Regulations [CA], 2026, s. 901.47). The observer scans the sky and the ground; the pilot flies. Report useful findings to the incident commander in plain words. Record only what the task needs.
13. Reserve. Begin the return at 30 percent battery or at the time the pilot set before launch; land with no less than 25 percent. Swap the battery on the ground, never hurry a landing to make a swap.
14. Landing. Announce “RPAS landing”; confirm the zone is clear; land on the pad; motors off before anyone approaches. Nobody catches a landing aircraft.
15. Post-flight. Inspect the aircraft and battery (heat, damage); set the battery to storage charge or place it in the fire-resistant bag; download the data to the department system with the chain-of-custody fields completed; complete the flight log and the battery log; tell the incident commander the aircraft is down and the unit is available or out of service.
16. No-go. A flight declined or aborted for any reason is logged with the reason. It counts as a flight done right.

• Every flight: flight log and battery log entry (Form - RPAS Flight and Battery Log) and the pre-flight checklist, kept at least 24 months (Canadian Aviation Regulations [CA], 2026, s. 901.29).
• Every fly-away, lost link beyond the return-to-home time, hard landing, crash, battery event, near miss with any aircraft, propeller injury, flight outside a limit or privacy complaint: an occurrence report in the department’s near-miss and incident system the same shift, reviewed by the chief pilot within five working days.
• Occurrences meeting the Transport Canada or Transportation Safety Board thresholds are reported by the program manager through CADORS or to the TSB (Transport Canada, 2025b; Transportation Safety Board Regulations [CA], 2026).
• Imagery that may be evidence: chain-of-custody fields completed at download; originals unaltered.
• Learning: a Tier 1 After-Action Review after every flight with an occurrence or a no-go; Tier 2 for a near miss with a manned aircraft, a fly-away over people, a propeller injury or a battery fire (Incident Investigation and Learning Program).

• Sign-off: chief pilot, using the competency table in RPAS Program toolkit T7, before a pilot flies operationally and every 12 months after.
• Observers and sensor operators: sign-off at entry and every 24 months.
• All members: launch zone rules and the “Land now” authority at recruit training and the annual safety refresher.
• This procedure is reviewed every 12 months by the RPAS Program Improvement Team with a learning-team session with the pilots, after any Tier 2 or Tier 3 event, and after any Transport Canada rule change.

• Program: RPAS Program
• Policy: Policy - Records, Privacy and Health Information; Policy - Contractors and Mutual Aid
• Procedures: SWP - Wildland Deployment, LCES and Heat; SWP - Accountability and Personnel Accountability Reports
• Forms: Form - RPAS Flight and Battery Log
• Audit: Checklist - RPAS, Marine and ARFF (Conditional Modules)

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.

NAV CANADA. (n.d.). NAV Drone: RPAS flight authorization [Web page]. https://www.navcanada.ca/en/flight-planning/drone-flight-planning.aspx