New Mexico State University

Online flight requests are required for all flights, excluding indoor flights. Please note, the indoor flight area must be evaluated and approved by EHS&RM.

1. The Flight Request Form is accessed through the NMSU Crimson Connection portal and submitted electronically. 
2. A flight operations safety plan will be required for upload in flight request form.
   • This is to ensure safety and compliance of UAS operations.
   • Template: Flight Operations Safety Plan (NMSU), Flight Operations Safety Plan (Non-NMSU)  
3. The submission will be routed to applicable departments for review and approval.
4. All correspondence regarding the flight will be within the comments section of the form.
5. 3^rd party vendor flight requests will be submitted by the NMSU Sponsoring Department. Required for upload in flight request form:
   • Certificate of insurance, (see UAS vendor memo for insurance coverage minimums) 
   • Copy of FAA registration of UAS
   • Copy of pilots Part 107 license will be required to upload in form submittal.
   • Flight operations safety plan.
6. Demonstration flights to showcase an UAS device or payload unit, by organizations or vendors external to NMSU are allowed provided: 
   • An NMSU pilot who has attended the UAS workshop be present during the preflight/flight/postflight operation. In this case, the demo pilot does not need to attend the workshop.  
   • Or the external Demo pilot has their Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate and has completed the NMSU UAS Safety Workshop. 
   • The external organization/vendor must have insurance meeting NMSU standards. 
7. Final approval for all flights will be given by EHS&RM.

Flight Requests by Tier

New to the NMSU UAS Flight Operations is the ability to categorize flights based on risk in a Tier system. This will allow longer approval periods for those flights that are considered low risk.

Please review the information and flow chart below and then proceed to Online Flight Request form in Crimson Connection.

Tier 1 - High Risk Flight Area

1. These flight areas will involve flights over people or buildings where a loss of control could result in injury or property damage.  At NMSU these can be identified as areas around the core campus buildings, parking/walking areas, and sports areas.  
2. Outside of NMSU the same congestion level, and activity level of people in the flight area would designate the area as a Tier 1 flight. 

Tier 2 - Medium Risk Flight Area

1. These flight areas can be identified as those outside of the core campus area, such as facilities, (in town) campus farms, and agricultural structures to name a few examples. 
2. Outside of NMSU the same congestion level, and activity level of people in the flight area would designate the area as a Tier 2 flight. 

Tier 3 - Low Risk Flight Area

1. These are areas identified as low chances of any impact to buildings, people, or vehicles.  Examples of this are the campus ranches, flights in the forest, and practice field flights. 
2. Outside of NMSU the same congestion level, and activity level of people in the flight area would designate the area as a Tier 3 flight.

Reporting

1. Interdepartmental reporting is the responsibility of the pilot.  Such reports should be filed with any department or origination the pilot flies for/with depending upon their needs.
2. EHS&RM reserves the right to request progress reports on long during flight plans or clearances
3. Accident Reporting
   • The FAA requires that all incidents and accidents that results in serious injury to a person, or any loss of consciousness, or if it causes damage to any property other than they UAS in excess of $500.  This report must be filed within 10 days
   • EHS&RM requires a report of any accident involving a UAS with individuals or property other than the UAS.
4. Reports required by an other agency shall be submitted as stated.

Flight Request
Tier 1 High Risk		Tier 2 Mid Risk		Tier 3 Low Risk
Location/Event		Location/Event		Location/Event
Minimum of 3 Days Advance Notice (Single Flights)		Ideally 3-10 days before planned use Up to 1 month clearance window		10 days before planned use/ long term clearance might require additional steps
EHS&RM Receives Request via Crimson Connection UAS Flight Request Form		EHS&RM Receives Request via Crimson Connection UAS Flight Request Form		EHS&RM Receives Request via Crimson Connection UAS Flight Request Form
Clearance/Coordination with other departments begins: Campus Events Fire Police Risk Management Others		Clearance/Coordination with other departments begins: Campus Events Fire Police Risk Management Others		Verification of flight area/ activities. Clearance with Risk Management If additional Clearance is needed it will be coordinated.
Approval/Denial Make corrections or request clarification		Approval/Denial Make corrections or request clarification		Approval/Denial Make corrections or request clarification
Conduct Operations		Conduct Operations		Conduct Operations
Report/Publish Results as needed or required		Report/Publish Results as needed or required		Report/Publish Results as needed or required

Campus Staff, Faculty, or Students sponsoring a flight from an off-campus source will still need to file a flight request. This is required for any flights over NMSU owned land, outside of the NMSU UAS practice field. This request will need to go through the Crimson Connections Page.

Experimental units flying outside of a contained space will follow the same request steps, however, there may be additional information required.