European Union: European Commission opened consultation on draft implementing regulation establishing UAS-specific safety occurrences that must be reported

On 4 May 2026, the European Commission opened a consultation on the draft implementing regulation amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1018, expanding mandatory aviation occurrence reporting to address emerging technologies and operational risks, until 1 June 2026. The amendments focus on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operators requiring either a certificate or a declaration for design, as well as organisations conducting operations in U-space airspace, particularly in urban and densely populated environments, while excluding lower-risk UAS operations not requiring certification or declaration. The regulation introduces a new dedicated Annex for UAS-specific occurrences to distinguish risks unique to unmanned aircraft, establishes mandatory reporting obligations for safety-critical occurrences, including collisions, loss of control, and information security incidents affecting system functionality, and introduces generic cybersecurity reporting requirements to capture accidental incidents such as malware infections and system disruptions.