Safety Challenges in Flying UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in Non Segregated Airspace

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are set to become part of every day air traffic operations perhaps within the next few years; however there are significant challenges that must be addressed in order to seamlessly introduce UAVs into non segregated airspace. This paper discusses some of the identified safety challenges in achieving this objective, taking a rigorous look at how one might argue the safety of UAV operations in non-segregated airspace from an Air Traffic Management (ATM) perspective. This paper draws upon the experience of the authors´ in the UAV domain and specifically the lessons learnt from the safety assessment work the authors undertook on behalf of EUROCONTROL DG/MIL on draft specifications for flying Military UAVs as Operational Air Traffic (OAT) outside segregated airspace.