ICAO Annex II 4.6
4.6 Except when necessary for take-off or landing, or
except by permission from the appropriate authority, a VFR
flight shall not be flown:
a) over the congested areas of cities, towns or settlements
or over an open-air assembly of persons at a height less
than 300 m (1 000 ft) above the highest obstacle within
a radius of 600 m from the aircraft;
b) elsewhere than as specified in 4.6 a), at a height less
than 150 m (500 ft) above the ground or water.
Correct me if I’m wrong but ICAO seem to say one cannot fly below 500'
The ANO (Section 5 (3) relevant sections are;
(3) The low flying prohibitions are as follows:
(a) Failure of power unit
An aircraft shall not be flown below such height as would enable it to make an
emergency landing without causing danger to persons or property on the surface
in the event of a power unit failure.
(b) The 500 feet rule
Except with the written permission of the CAA, an aircraft shall not be flown
closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle or structure.
(c) The 1,000 feet rule
Except with the written permission of the CAA, an aircraft flying over a congested
area of a city town or settlement shall not fly below a height of 1,000 feet above
the highest fixed obstacle within a horizontal radius of 600 metres of the aircraft.
(d) The land clear rule
An aircraft flying over a congested area of a city, town or settlement shall not fly
below such height as would permit the aircraft to land clear of the congested area
in the event of a power unit failure.
A bit embarrassing to ask (as I've just started Air Law for ATPL theory
) but I assume the ANO overrides ICAO in UK airspace? Edit to add: Picked up a book and turns out yes it does. Well done me
The exemption to the above (Section 6 aa Landing and taking off at a training aerodrome)
(iii) An aeroplane or helicopter or gyroplane flies in the circumstances specified
in this sub-paragraph if:
(aa) it is flying for the purpose of taking off from, landing at or practising
approaches to landing at a training aerodrome;
Does this mean a PFL and go-around can only be conducted below 500' if the exercise is being conducted at a training aerodrome (not necessarily a licensed one) and not below 500' elsewhere?