If you were told that an isolated farm track constitutes a congested area then you were misinformed. If that statement came from a training provider then you should not train with them.
It seems that most people don't bother reading all the relevant materials in CAP 393 (LAW); here is a list of the article numbers that should be read & understood: 2, 91, 94, 95, 239, 240, 241, 257.
You should also have a very close look at the document CAP 722 (GUIDANCE)
Documents such as these should always be read with your thumb in the interpretation section for quick reference.
Whilst its important to understand what a congested area is, you also need to realise that standard permissions allow use of a sub7kg UAV within a congested area as long as you observe ALL the relevant rules... it's rare that you would need to define whether an area is congested or not unless you are flying heavy kit.
Once you have had an opportunity to form a defendable understanding of the terms & principles involved you will understand how to apply them.
Back to the definition of a congested area; as a general rule of thumb, I would say that is useful to consider a congested area to include its separation distance of at least 150m away from areas occupied by many people (see ANO, Sched 1, Art 2). A village, however small, would accommodate several families and so should be considered to be a congested area, a farm however could cover the same amount of ground but may not be a congested area because it is occupied by very few people. (so a remote farmers field could be a congested area if there is a car-boot sale in progress but uncongested when there isn't... and it's a whole different matter if there are 1000+ people there)
The pilot must ALWAYS properly identify the risks that his operation presents to PVVS and must ALWAYS mitigate those risks responsibly. It doesn't matter whether the subject of the risk is a road or a school or anything else that could suffer as a result of a failed drone. Risk identification & mitigation are the key to safe operations.
Railway lines and major roads such as ring-roads & motorways are not necessarily congested areas, it depends where they are in relation to occupied land, in that a road travelling alongside a village or town may effectively extend that congested area to include a section of that road. Think about mitigation.... think about how to minimise/mitigate the risk to PVVS below your aircraft, think about a strategy that will reduce the likelihood of harm being caused if your aircraft were to fail (prevailing wind direction & flight path, direction of flight, use a longer lens etc.)
It is exceptionally rare to find an uncongested area within a city centre, in order to call a space uncongested, there needs to be a buffer of at least 150m between the congested area and the uncongested area. It is remarkable just how many operators choose to redefine the rules to suit themselves.
The congested area in the sketch below is the interior of the yellow line, the blue line represents the separation distance of 150m and the red line identifies a farm.
It is most practical to consider the blue line to be the extents of the congested area which means that 7-22kg aircraft flown by a PfCO with standard permissions and hobbyists are not permitted to fly within the blue line, a standard permission holder with a sub7kg is permitted to fly anywhere on this sketch (give the usual caveats), the road is only subject to congested area rules as it passes through the blue and yellow areas. The farm buildings are not in a congested area, and in themselves do not constitute an extension of the main congested area but the majority of the farm buildings are subject to congested area rules.
I hope this helps.
It seems that most people don't bother reading all the relevant materials in CAP 393 (LAW); here is a list of the article numbers that should be read & understood: 2, 91, 94, 95, 239, 240, 241, 257.
You should also have a very close look at the document CAP 722 (GUIDANCE)
Documents such as these should always be read with your thumb in the interpretation section for quick reference.
Whilst its important to understand what a congested area is, you also need to realise that standard permissions allow use of a sub7kg UAV within a congested area as long as you observe ALL the relevant rules... it's rare that you would need to define whether an area is congested or not unless you are flying heavy kit.
Once you have had an opportunity to form a defendable understanding of the terms & principles involved you will understand how to apply them.
Back to the definition of a congested area; as a general rule of thumb, I would say that is useful to consider a congested area to include its separation distance of at least 150m away from areas occupied by many people (see ANO, Sched 1, Art 2). A village, however small, would accommodate several families and so should be considered to be a congested area, a farm however could cover the same amount of ground but may not be a congested area because it is occupied by very few people. (so a remote farmers field could be a congested area if there is a car-boot sale in progress but uncongested when there isn't... and it's a whole different matter if there are 1000+ people there)
The pilot must ALWAYS properly identify the risks that his operation presents to PVVS and must ALWAYS mitigate those risks responsibly. It doesn't matter whether the subject of the risk is a road or a school or anything else that could suffer as a result of a failed drone. Risk identification & mitigation are the key to safe operations.
Railway lines and major roads such as ring-roads & motorways are not necessarily congested areas, it depends where they are in relation to occupied land, in that a road travelling alongside a village or town may effectively extend that congested area to include a section of that road. Think about mitigation.... think about how to minimise/mitigate the risk to PVVS below your aircraft, think about a strategy that will reduce the likelihood of harm being caused if your aircraft were to fail (prevailing wind direction & flight path, direction of flight, use a longer lens etc.)
It is exceptionally rare to find an uncongested area within a city centre, in order to call a space uncongested, there needs to be a buffer of at least 150m between the congested area and the uncongested area. It is remarkable just how many operators choose to redefine the rules to suit themselves.
The congested area in the sketch below is the interior of the yellow line, the blue line represents the separation distance of 150m and the red line identifies a farm.
It is most practical to consider the blue line to be the extents of the congested area which means that 7-22kg aircraft flown by a PfCO with standard permissions and hobbyists are not permitted to fly within the blue line, a standard permission holder with a sub7kg is permitted to fly anywhere on this sketch (give the usual caveats), the road is only subject to congested area rules as it passes through the blue and yellow areas. The farm buildings are not in a congested area, and in themselves do not constitute an extension of the main congested area but the majority of the farm buildings are subject to congested area rules.
I hope this helps.
...and NEVER fly over such events. This rule is really aimed at open air events such as galas, concerts & parades etc. but the LAW isn't that specific which means it effectively applies to all organised gatherings of 1000+ people. And I'm pretty sure that a fire drill would be considered to be an organised gathering. (think: marked assembly points, fire-marshals, drills, written notices etc. ...all very organised!)
