7.3 Decision-Making, Customer Pressure & Occurrence Reporting

A Decision Is More Than Yes or No

A defensible decision connects:

1. Rules: subcategory, aircraft, VLOS, height, airspace, people, documents.
2. Hazards: weather, aircraft state, people routes, obstacles, workload, failures.
3. Controls: separation, segregation, low-speed mode, crew, barriers, route, contingency.
4. Residual risk: what remains after controls.
5. Triggers: exact conditions for delay, increased separation, landing, or cancellation.

“Be careful” is not a control. A trigger such as “land if a person enters the buffer or the observer loses visual contact” is actionable.

Decision Cycle

Before flight, identify the objective, gather current official information, walk the site, inspect the configured aircraft, identify failure paths, choose workable controls, decide go/change/delay/cancel, and brief stop triggers.

During flight, observe change. If reality differs from plan, stop secondary tasks, reassess, act, and communicate. After landing, review and improve controls.

Equipment cannot cure unrelated failures: a propeller guard does not fix segregation; an observer does not open restricted airspace; low-speed mode does not make severe turbulence acceptable.

Customer and Schedule Pressure

Pressure can be direct—“one pass over the guests”—or subtle—travel cost, expiring light, road closure, or fear of looking unhelpful. It creates continuation bias, where stop evidence is reinterpreted as inconvenience.

Controls include:

• put cancellation and safety authority in the brief;
• explain legal boundaries before the site visit;
• agree alternate shots or dates;
• keep the pilot free from framing arguments while airborne;
• empower trained crew to call stop;
• use written limits rather than renegotiating each gust; and
• treat landing as successful risk control.

A client can accept disappointment. An uninvolved person cannot waive the pilot’s duties.

Recognising an Occurrence

The CAA describes an occurrence as a safety-related event that endangers, or if not corrected could endanger, an aircraft, occupants, or another person. Serious incidents and near misses can involve danger to people, property, buildings, equipment, or aircraft.

Examples include a near collision with a manned aircraft, uncontrolled flyaway through a populated area, serious loss of control, injury, significant property damage, or a failure that narrowly avoided harm. A voluntary report can share a lesson even when mandatory criteria are not met.

Do not decide solely by whether the aircraft was recovered or a client complained.

CAA and AAIB Routes

CAA occurrence reporting

CAA reports are submitted through ECCAIRS2. For a flight that did not require Operational Authorisation, use the current Open category occurrence-reporting flowchart to decide whether a report is mandatory or voluntary. Include the Operator ID and authorisation status where the guidance requests them.

AAIB accident and serious-incident reporting

Any person involved who knows of an aircraft accident or serious incident in the UK may have a duty to report it to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). The CAA states that UAS accidents and serious incidents are reportable to the AAIB regardless of weight or commercial purpose, applying current definitions and guidance.

One event may require both AAIB and CAA reports. Telling the police, insurer, client, or manufacturer does not automatically complete aviation reporting.

Immediate Actions and Evidence

1. Protect life and call emergency services where needed.
2. Stop flight and control battery, fire, traffic, and public hazards.
3. Notify the operator and site authority.
4. Preserve the site and wreckage except where safety, rescue, or authorised movement requires change.
5. Retain flight logs, controller data, photos, video, messages, maintenance, weather, airspace data, witness details, and crew statements.
6. Record facts promptly without guessing.
7. Use applicable AAIB and CAA routes.

Do not edit logs or move wreckage to avoid embarrassment. Evidence helps distinguish equipment, environment, procedure, and human factors.

Investigation and Learning

Ask:

• What happened in time order?
• What conditions and configuration existed?
• Which barrier failed or was absent?
• Did the procedure fit the task?
• Were warning signs normalised?
• Did customer, fatigue, or schedule pressure matter?
• What prevents recurrence?

Avoid stopping at “pilot error.” A battery event may combine ageing cells, weak records, cold, payload, optimistic reserve, and client pressure. Actions should address the system.

Scenarios

Near miss with helicopter. The UAS descends in time, but it may remain a serious near miss. Preserve logs and use the reporting flowchart; “nothing hit” is not a reason to hide it.

Minor empty-pad tip-over. It may not meet mandatory thresholds, but record and inspect it. Consider voluntary reporting if it reveals a wider issue.

Client asks for deletion. After a flyaway, preserve evidence and report as required.

Public injury. Provide assistance first, protect the site, and promptly follow AAIB and CAA guidance.

The culture line is: stop early, report honestly, learn systematically.