Glossary.
Aviation has an abbreviation for everything. These are the ones you will meet.
- AMC
- Acceptable Means of Compliance
Non-binding EASA guidance showing one accepted way to meet a rule. SORA is published as AMC to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/947. - ARC
- Air Risk Class
A class from ARC-a to ARC-d describing the likelihood of meeting a crewed aircraft. See the air risk guide. - BVLOS
- Beyond Visual Line of Sight
Flight where the pilot cannot keep the aircraft in direct sight without aid. - C5, C6
- Class marks
Class identification marks on drones built for standard scenarios STS-01 and STS-02. - ConOps
- Concept of Operations
A description of what the operation is, how it runs and who does what. The first step of a SORA. - CTR
- Control Zone
Controlled airspace around an aerodrome, reaching from the ground up to a set altitude. - EASA
- European Union Aviation Safety Agency
The EU agency for aviation safety. It has 31 member states: the EU 27 plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. - eVTOL
- Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing
Electric aircraft that take off and land vertically, including air taxis. - GM
- Guidance Material
Non-binding EASA material that helps explain a rule. - GRC
- Ground Risk Class
A class describing the risk to people on the ground. See the ground risk guide. - iGRC
- Intrinsic Ground Risk Class
The ground risk class before mitigations, set by aircraft size, speed and population density. - ILT
- Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport
The Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate. Its ILT-Luchtvaartautoriteit handles drone authorisations in the Netherlands. - JARUS
- Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems
An international group of aviation authorities and bodies that developed SORA. - LUC
- Light UAS Operator Certificate
A certificate letting a mature organisation approve some of its own operations. - M1, M2
- Ground risk mitigations
M1(A) sheltering, M1(B) operational restrictions, M1(C) ground observation, and M2 reduced impact dynamics. - MTOM
- Maximum Take-Off Mass
The heaviest mass at which an aircraft is allowed to take off. - OA
- Operational Authorisation
The permit from a national authority that allows a specific-category operation. In Dutch: exploitatievergunning. - OSO
- Operational Safety Objective
A safety objective that a SORA operator has to meet, at a robustness set by the SAIL. - PDRA
- Predefined Risk Assessment
A risk assessment already carried out by EASA for a given kind of operation. - RDW
- Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer
The Dutch vehicle authority, which also issues drone operator numbers. - SAIL
- Specific Assurance and Integrity Level
A level from I to VI that sets how much an operator has to demonstrate. - SORA
- Specific Operations Risk Assessment
The ten-step method for assessing the risk of a specific-category operation. - STS
- Standard Scenario
A predefined operation allowing a declaration instead of an authorisation. Currently STS-01 and STS-02. - TMPR
- Tactical Mitigation Performance Requirement
What an operator has to achieve when detecting and avoiding traffic during flight. - UAS
- Unmanned Aircraft System
A drone together with its control equipment. - VLOS
- Visual Line of Sight
Flight where the pilot keeps the aircraft in direct sight without aid.