New policy moves FAA further from EASA on eVTOL certification

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The Federal Aviation Administration has backtracked on a proposal that would have imposed stricter certification requirements on electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft carrying passengers for hire, instead reverting to a more conventional certification approach that more closely aligns with its existing policies for airplanes and helicopters.

In its newly issued safety continuum for powered-lift aircraft — which applies to winged eVTOLs like those being developed by Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation and Beta Technologies — the FAA establishes four powered-lift certification levels defined solely by maximum passenger seating configuration and gross weight. The levels determine the FAA’s safety objectives for system safety and aircraft performance, with larger and heavier aircraft subject to increasingly stringent requirements, as is also the case for airplanes and rotorcraft.

The draft powered-lift safety continuum, published more than two years ago, diverged from the FAA’s airplane and rotorcraft safety continuums by further subdividing these levels into two categories based on whether the aircraft would be carrying passengers for hire. That distinction appeared to be a gesture toward the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s own eVTOL certification rules, which have “basic” and “enhanced” categories related to the aircraft’s operational use.

Related: Special Report: The number at the center of an eVTOL safety debate

However, many of those who commented on the FAA’s draft criticized this break from existing practices, arguing that it could have unintended consequences for the rest of the industry and should not be adopted without additional public engagement.

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