National Exams for Level 4 Drone Pilots

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — In the wake of last month’s lifting of the ban on Level 4 drone flights, the national exam system for prospective drone pilots has been launched.

About forty people took the written portion of the exam this week, representing the first batch of drone pilots for flights over populated areas. The candidates must also pass practical tests in the event that they haven’t already been certified by a nationally-recognized drone school.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism believes that the first actual Level 4 flights will commence before the end of March.

The drone licenses will be handled by the authorities in a similar fashion to a driver’s license, except that there will be first- and second-class qualifications conferring a different range of permissions.

Maximum takeoff weight for drone flights has been set at 25 kilograms.

When serious accidents occur, these will be investigated by the Japan Transport Safety Board, which is under the auspices of the ministry.

Level 4 flights are expected to unlock the full potential of drone services in Japan such as package delivery, security patrols, and disaster relief.

The functioning of the new system is also likely to have an impact on how eVTOL air taxi pilot licenses are handled in the future.

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