Definition
The Direction de la sécurité de l'aviation civile (DSAC) is the branch of the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) responsible, through its interregional directorates, for air traffic safety. A fireworks display throws objects several hundred metres into the air; if fired near an aerodrome, under a control zone or in an approach corridor, it must be brought to the attention of the DSAC, which gives an opinion, may impose timings or a maximum height and, where necessary, has a NOTAM (notice to airmen) published to inform pilots of the activity. The distance that triggers this consultation is not set by a single text: it depends on local airspace, and prefectures specify it in their instructions, often within a few kilometres of an aerodrome. CERFA 14098 provides for this opinion to be attached when required. In the UK, the CAA and the airport operator play the same role.
In practice, for the display company
The DSAC opinion sometimes takes longer than the prefecture itself. PyroDesk flags, as soon as the venue is entered, the proximity of a known aerodrome and adds the opinion request to the job's list of steps with its own lead time, so the CERFA leaves complete rather than with an attachment "to follow".