Most of the agencies we have worked with have requested that our training team come to their department to train 6 personnel selected by their agency. We limit this training to 6 personnel from your agency as our goal is to bring your personnel up to a high level of knowledge and proficiency.
Our typical training program is two full days and it is designed to train your personnel how to safely and proficiently fly a drone within the National airspace system. The first day of training consists of classroom instruction which will adhere to the training mandated by your agency specific COA. Examples include airspace, weather considerations, rules & regulations, accident reporting, insurance considerations, airport/field operations, emergency procedures, preflight and maintenance, loading/performance and crew resource management.
The second day of training will entail extensive hands-on applications which consist of basic flight maneuvers, emergency procedures, precision flying drills, advanced maneuvers, and search patterns. Training will be done using your agency’s drone in addition to our fleet of DJI drones.
FAA Certificate of Authorization (COA) and Jurisdictional Certificate of Authorization
Most public safety agencies find it more cost effective to hire Advanced Drone Consultants to complete all aspects of the COA application process on behalf of the agency. This allows agency personnel to stay focused on their normal tasks instead of spending hours working on the COA application process. The COA application process is extremely time consuming and it can be challenging and burdensome if agency representatives do not have experience in the aviation field.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made several changes recently that now allow government agencies, such as police and fire departments, to self-certify pilots, aircraft, maintenance and training. This is known as a Public Safety Blanket Certificate of Authorization (COA) which is granted to the individual agency by the FAA after a lengthy and detailed application process.
However, the Public Safety Blanket COA does have several operational limitations imposed by the FAA. For this reason, Advanced Drone Consultants recommends that your agency also apply for a Public Safety Jurisdictional COA which will allow for specific drone operations that your blanket COA will not. Examples of these operations include, authorization to operate after dark, within certain controlled airspace and at higher altitudes.