Earlier this month, the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (“EASA”) released updated certification guidance for eVTOL. The FAA published a Draft Advisory Circular (“Draft AC”) 21.17-4, with broad guidance that will form the foundation for establishing certification criteria. The AC is open for comment until August 12, 2024. The same day, EASA updated its existing guideline and issued the Second Issue of the Special Condition for eVTOL, which reflects alignment with the FAA across certain performance criteria. A more streamlined regulatory certification framework will facilitate more efficient processes for manufacturers and greater harmonization of requirements globally – a hallmark of the aviation industry for decades. Draft AC Provides Generally Applicable Certification Criteria: Over the past few years, eVTOL manufacturers have been working closely with the FAA to develop certification standards for their unique aircraft. The Draft AC provides broader guidance to the industry by establishing how the…
The FAA recently issued the first conditional approval for a public-use vertiport at Allen C. Perkinson Blackstone Army Airfield (KBKT) in Blackstone, Virginia, a key milestone for the AAM industry and critical first step towards developing sufficient infrastructure for large-scale AAM operations. A public-private partnership (PPP) at the KBKT vertiport will enable innovative research on instrument flight operations and air traffic management, which will benefit the industry as it develops vertiport designs, standards, procedures, and related infrastructure based on the evolving operational environment. State and local support of infrastructure development and research will continue to be vital to AAM, including community engagement, planning, zoning, and permitting, and PPPs such as the vertiport research initiative at KBKT. The project at KBKT may serve as a model for future collaborations, combining state funding and private investment to enable groundbreaking research and regulatory approval. KBKT is a dual-use airport for military and civilian…
In brief Development and integration of critical infrastructure for electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft remains critical for the wide-scale adoption and the future of Advanced Air Mobility (“AAM”). With the path towards certification rapidly gaining momentum, the first commercial eVTOL operations are likely to begin as early as 2025. While initial operations will be rely on existing infrastructure (e.g., airports/heliports), the long-term success of AAM will depend heavily on the development of new facilities and capabilities needed to support the operational ecosystem. The complex legal issues around AAM infrastructure include federal airspace and local zoning issues, digital infrastructure, multimodal, and power sources – to name a few. This alert provides an overview of the key infrastructure requirements and legal challenges for AAM, with a focus on vertiports as the essential facilities for take-off and landing of eVTOL aircraft. Importantly, industry stakeholders have an opportunity to provide comments to…
The FAA recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) marking the first of multiple anticipated rulemakings to align regulations with the FAA’s decision earlier this year to change course on the certification of electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft. Notably, the NPRM incorporates the concept of “powered-lift” aircraft into the regulatory framework. The key proposals under the NPRM include the incorporation of the powered-lift category of aircraft in operations definitions and related requirements, air carrier management personnel qualifications, recordkeeping requirements in operations specifications, and the FAA’s plan to publish a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (“SFAR”) with temporary operating and airman certification regulations. While the NPRM is a necessary step to accommodate the FAA’s new approach to certification and future rules for operations and pilots, eVTOL manufacturers and operators will await the release of the SFAR to learn of more substantive requirements impacting certification and future operations. Public comments…
The FAA recently announced the release of its new vertiport design guidelines, Engineering Brief No. 105 for Vertiport Design (“Guidance”). The Guidance marks a significant milestone in the FAA’s efforts to support the development of infrastructure required for Advanced Air Mobility. The Guidance provides interim safety standards for eVTOL take-off and landing facilities, which are commonly referred to as “vertiports” or “vertistops.” Incorporating FAA research, collaboration with industry, and public feedback, the new Guidance provides key resources to infrastructure facilities and developers as they plan for the integration of eVTOL aircraft into mainstream use. Ultimately, the FAA expects the guidance to evolve into a performance-based design standard in the form of an Advisory Circular, which may be influenced by design standards developed by other stakeholders, including standards development organizations and other jurisdictions’ aviation authorities. The Guidance provides interim guidelines for civil vertiport designers to establish an acceptable level of safety,…
In a recently issued enforcement policy, the FAA announced a discretionary approach to its enforcement of Remote ID Rule requirements applicable to the production of unmanned aircraft, to account for the delay in the FAA’s recent acceptance of a means of compliance (“MOC”) required by the Remote ID Rule. This discretionary policy will apply to the requirement that drone manufacturers submit a declaration of compliance with an FAA-accepted MOC on or before September 16, 2022. Under the policy, the FAA will exercise discretion whether to take enforcement action for any noncompliance with this requirement on or before December 16, 2022. The FAA will consider all circumstances when exercising its discretion, including, in particular, the delay in the FAA’s recent acceptance of an MOC. Affected manufacturers are encouraged to coordinate closely with the FAA. Under 14 C.F.R. Part 89 (“Part 89”), established by the Remote ID Rule, designers and manufacturer of…
The FAA has selected the New York UAS Test Site at the Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York for a project supporting safe drone integration and the development of a new traffic management system for unmanned aircraft systems. The project is designed to test and evaluate new applications for use in future UAS traffic management (“UTM”) systems. The selected test site is part of New York’s 50-Mile Drone Corridor, which facilitates beyond visual line of sight (“BVLOS”) testing and advanced uncrewed aircraft operations. The project will be managed by the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (“NUAIR”), a nonprofit organization that manages the New York UAS Test Site, and will also involve the participation of several other partners, including NRA Technologies, OneSky, AX Enterprize, Cal Analytics, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, and Oneida Indian Nation. This project represents the FAA’s continued recognition of the need to support and integrate…
Last week in a unanimous opinion, the D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the FAA’s 2021 Remote ID Rule, finding the Petitioner’s various constitutional and procedural claims without merit. Remote ID requirements, akin to requiring a “digital license plate,” are widely supported by industry as an essential stepping stone to the expanded use of drones in U.S. airspace. In essence, Remote ID will allow drones to be identified while airborne, greatly enhancing safety and security of drone operations. The FAA’s Remote ID Rule requires operators to have Remote-ID equipped UAS by September 2023. In this case, the Petitioner’s challenges to the Remote ID Rule were primarily focused on concerns that Remote ID technology could allow the government to carry out continuous surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Other claims included procedural claims alleging the rule was arbitrary and capricious, among others. In dismissing the facial challenge, the Court found that…
With the FAA’s final Engineering Brief for Vertiport Design anticipated to be released within the next few months, this summer has seen an uptick in congressional activity to support the development of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure necessary for eVTOL and UAS operations. Following the House’s passage of the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act (AAMCLA), in 2021, the Senate passed a companion bill in March 2022 that was recently approved (and amended) by the House in June 2022. The bill has since been referred back to the Senate. The Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act Both the Senate and House versions of the AAMCLA seek to establish an inter-agency working group that would be tasked with developing recommendations regarding federal support of AAM “safety, operations, security, cybersecurity, [and] infrastructure” development. The working group would consist of representatives from the FAA, Departments of Transportation, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security…
According to a FAA statement reported by multiple media outlets last week, the FAA has decided to modify its regulatory approach and certify electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft as a “special class” aircraft using the existing “powered-lift” aircraft category. As discussed previously, the FAA has been deciding between two approaches to the type certification of eVTOLs—either (a) type certification using airworthiness standards in 14 C.F.R. Part 23 for “Normal Category Airplanes,” which normally fly only horizontally, combined with special conditions for eVTOLs (e.g., vertical flight), or (b) certification under the FAA’s aircraft certification procedures for “special classes” of aircraft in 14 C.FR. § 21.17 (b) (“Special Class Framework”), whereby airworthiness standards derived from other FAA regulations are incorporated as appropriate. The ultimate direction will have significant implications for both eVTOLs’ route to market and future operational requirements (e.g., pilot requirements, infrastructure, etc.). In light of the industry’s expectation…