EASA A1/A3 study guide
EASA A1/A3 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The 'open' category is the reference framework for the majority of leisure drone activities and low-risk commercial activities in Europe, and it splits into three subcategories: A1 (fly over people, but not over assemblies of people), A2 (fly close to people) and A3 (fly far from people). The A1/A3 'Proof of completion for online training' is the first rung of that ladder. The EASA A1/A3 study guide has 9 sections and about 2,502 words.
01Air safety
Safety in unmanned aviation is about keeping risk as low as reasonably practicable, not about eliminating every hazard. A hazard is a potential source of harm (a building, a crowd, a power line, a gusting wind).
296 words, about 1 min02Airspace restrictions
Open-category flights are limited to 120 m above the surface unless a national rule permits otherwise. The limit is AGL , not above mean sea level, so flying from a hill does not raise your allowed altitude relative to the ground below.
286 words, about 1 min03Aviation regulation
The core EU framework is Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (rules and procedures for UAS operations) and Regulation (EU) 2019/945 (product requirements and class markings). The open category has subcategories A1, A2, and A3 .
291 words, about 1 min04Human performance limitations
Human performance is about recognising that the remote pilot is part of the safety system. Key concepts include situational awareness , workload , fatigue , stress , complacency , distraction , and decision making .
273 words, about 1 min05Operational procedures
Good operations follow a repeatable sequence: plan, prepare, fly, review . Planning includes airspace and NOTAM checks, weather, site survey, ground and air risk assessment, and battery/energy planning.
286 words, about 1 min06Drone safety
Drone safety covers the hardware and energy sources you handle. Lithium-polymer (LiPo) batteries are the main fire risk.
272 words, about 1 min07Privacy and data protection
A drone with a camera processes personal data whenever images can identify a person, even if you never publish them. Under the GDPR , you need a lawful basis, a defined purpose, and you must respect data minimisation , storage limitation , and integrity and confidentiality .
277 words, about 1 min08Insurance
Insurance for drone operations is mainly about third-party liability : damage or injury caused to others. The EASA open-category rules do not by themselves create a single EU-wide mandatory drone insurance requirement for every flight, but national law may require insurance , and some states do.
269 words, about 1 min09Security
Security protects against intentional harm, while safety protects against unintentional harm. Threats include unlawful interference , theft, vandalism, deliberate misuse of a drone, and cyber attacks on the command-and-control link, the app, or the data.
252 words, about 1 min