Anyone planning a night-time cityscape shoot, or an inspection or survey across a wide area, soon runs into a situation that ordinary flight approval does not solve. Night flying, and beyond-visual-line-of-sight flying outside the operator's own field of view, are prohibited in principle by the operator's duties, and doing either requires a separate procedure called 특별비행승인 (special flight approval).
Flights that require special flight approval
- Night flight: flying between sunset and sunrise. Even if the sun has not fully set to the eye, crossing the reference time makes it a night flight.
- Beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS): flying where the operator cannot directly see the aircraft with the naked eye. This includes cases where the line of sight is broken by buildings or terrain.
This approval is a different procedure from flight approval for control zones or prohibited airspace. Filming at night inside a control zone may require both flight approval and special flight approval, and if filming is involved, the aerial photography permit administered by the Ministry of National Defense applies on top. The first task at the planning stage is to write down, item by item, exactly how many approvals of which kind the job needs.
Who you file with, and how long it takes
Special flight approval is applied for to the head of the Regional Aviation Administration (지방항공청). Filing can be done through the Drone One-Stop Civil Service, and the processing period is 30 days. Where there are special circumstances — for example where an aircraft using new technology has to be assessed — that period can extend to 90 days.
In practical terms, this makes it impossible to fix a shoot date first and pursue approval afterwards. For a project involving night filming, start preparing at least a month ahead; for a new aircraft or a complex mode of operation, look three months out. The time needed for flight approval and the aerial photography permit after that comes on top and must be counted separately.
The core question is whether you meet the safety criteria
Special flight approval is not granted simply because an application was submitted. It is closer to a process of demonstrating that you have the aircraft and the operational system to conduct that flight safely. Compliance is assessed against the standard governing safety criteria and approval procedures for special flights by unmanned aircraft, and the approval document is issued afterwards. The following elements are generally examined.
- Lighting equipment allowing the aircraft's position and attitude to be identified at night
- Equipment and video transmission systems for monitoring flight status in real time
- Automatic return-to-home and landing functions for emergencies such as loss of link or loss of GPS
- Collision avoidance functions, spare parts, and maintenance record keeping
- The operator's flight experience and competence in night and BVLOS operations
The head of the Regional Aviation Administration may also set the date, time, place and method of the flight when granting approval, taking into account population density, potential invasion of privacy, and noise. That means the approval may not come back on exactly the terms you asked for — timing or route may be adjusted — so it is safer to design the shot list with room for change built in.
Documents and how the process runs
You will normally prepare material of the following kinds.
- The special flight approval application form
- A flight plan covering date and time, area, altitude, route and purpose
- Material on the aircraft's specifications, performance and safety equipment
- Operator details and evidence of flight experience
- An operations plan setting out emergency response procedures and safety management measures
- Documentation confirming insurance cover and device registration
After submission comes the assessment of compliance with the safety criteria, and requests for supplementary material at that stage are far from rare. The time spent supplying those has to fit inside the processing period, so the more thorough the paperwork from the outset, the shorter the whole timeline.
Where applications commonly stall
- The aircraft has no night identification lighting, so it fails the approval requirement outright
- Emergency procedures in the operations plan are written only in abstract terms, drawing a request for more detail
- No records exist to evidence the operator's flight experience
- Assuming special flight approval is all that is needed, and omitting flight approval and the aerial photography permit
- Filing two weeks out without allowing for the 30-day processing period
Regulations and safety criteria can be revised, so check the current position on the Drone One-Stop Civil Service or in Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport notices.
Light Beyond Drones produces video work including night filming in Daejeon, and we establish which approvals a job is subject to before designing the schedule around them. If your project needs night or post-sunset footage, please contact us with at least a month in hand. We start by setting out how many approvals of which kind are required, and whether the aircraft you currently hold can meet the safety criteria. Our courses also cover how to keep flight experience records properly, so if you have special flight approval in mind for the future, mention it during the consultation and we will frame the guidance around that standard.
Sources
This article is based on the Korean government and public-institution materials listed below. Regulations are amended from time to time, so please check the original source before you file anything.
