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When the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration published initial vertiport design standards in 2022, the agency presented the guidance as foundational for enabling operations of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. On Sept. 20, 2024, the FAA released a proposed update of those standards in the form of Engineering Brief (EB) 105A, which is intended to serve as a stepping stone to a standalone vertiport design advisory circular (AC) by the end of next year.
The FAA already has an existing AC for heliport design, which applies to all helicopters with single, tandem or dual rotors as well as the yet-to-be-certified Leonardo AW609, a conventionally powered civil tiltrotor. The newly updated engineering brief is specifically focused on eVTOL aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 12,500 pounds or less. Yet, there appears to be a growing consensus across the vertical-lift aviation industry that having separate infrastructure guidance for eVTOLs and helicopters may create more problems than it solves.
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“These next-gen aircraft are ultimately just vertical flight aircraft and should not be segregated from current vertical lift aircraft,” said Chris Martino, senior director of operations and international affairs for industry association Vertical Aviation International, which has advocated for unified guidance for some time. “Future infrastructure must be designed to meet the needs of the full scope of the vertical lift fleet. Industry cannot afford different, and mutually exclusive, requirements that would hinder vertical lift operations.”
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