Safety, Emergency and Lost-Link Procedures
The final domain tests whether you can convert an emergency into a planned sequence of actions rather than improvisation.
Pre-briefed content
Emergency landing areas identified during the site survey; lost-link behaviour configured and understood; fly-away response; battery failure and forced landing; LiPo fire handling; injury response; emergency contact list with the nearest hospital, police and CAAP; crowd control. Everyone on the crew states the lost-link action aloud before launch.
Lost link
Failsafe options are typically return-to-home, hover and wait, or land in place. RTH is only safe if its altitude clears every obstacle within the geofence and the home point is accurate. Hovering preserves the chance of regaining the link; landing in place is best over an empty field, worst over a road. Notify ATC immediately if in or near controlled airspace, squawk 7400, and keep the last known position and drift estimate. File an occurrence report with CAAP afterwards.
Worked example
Link is lost at 100 m over a road beside an empty lot, with RTH set to 120 m. Reasoning: climbing to 120 m increases the time over the road and may conflict with the clearance, while the empty lot is metres away. A hover-and-wait, followed by a controlled descent into the lot if the link does not return, keeps the aircraft away from traffic and people. Then notify and report.
Traps
Default RTH below obstacle height; auto-landing without surveying the landing area; delaying notification to ATC while attempting recovery.