• 29 Aug 2024 01:41 PM
• 0

Washington Report, Sept/Oct 2024

FAA Drafts eVTOL Documents
This summer, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aircraft Certification Service’s Policy and Standards Division (AIR-600) released two documents for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Because the FAA changed course in May 2022 — turning away from its anticipated plan to certificate winged eVTOL aircraft as Part 23 airplanes with special conditions for vertical flight (see “FAA Changes Course on eVTOL Certification,” Vertiflite, July/Aug 2022) — the agency is working on creating the necessary regulations to certificate both winged and wingless eVTOL aircraft.

On June 12, the agency posted a draft of Advisory Circular (AC) 21.17-4, “Type Certification—Powered-lift” on the Federal Register for public comment. The AC was drafted to provide “guidance for the type, production, and airworthiness certification of powered-lift.” The draft AC also included criteria in an appendix as proposed acceptable means for showing compliance with Part 21.17(b) for FAA type certification of winged powered-lift aircraft. This AC, once finalized, will provide some of the necessary framework for certificating winged eVTOL aircraft.

On July 11, the FAA posted its draft policy statement PSAIR-21.17-02, “Special Class Rotorcraft,” to outline how the agency intends to certificate wingless eVTOL aircraft under Part 21.17(b). The policy statement notes:

Traditionally, rotorcraft type-certificated under part 27, Normal Category Rotorcraft, and part 29, Transport Category Rotorcraft, have     primarily been helicopters that use a single main rotor and an anti-torque rotor or two main rotors to provide lift and thrust for horizontal flight. Helicopters create lift by changing the pitch of the main rotor blades and move into horizontal flight by varying the pitch of the main rotor blades throughout their rotation.

The document goes on to say that some new designs — e.g. eVTOL designs being developed by Volocopter and Alaka’i Technologies — have more than two propulsors, which the document also calls “rotors.” A description of the differences between a rotor and a propeller was highlighted in “Coming to Terms: Rotor” in the Nov/Dec 2021 issue of Vertiflite, noting that the term “rotor” should only be used “for devices with cyclic blade control or flapping — or both — for edgewise flight.”

Part 1 of the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for the FAA is “Definitions and Abbreviations,” and gives the legal definition of a “rotorcraft” — “a heavier-than-air aircraft that depends principally for its support in flight on the lift generated by one or more rotors.”

Unfortunately, there is no regulatory definition of a rotor. Therefore, the draft policy statement describes new applicants thus: “Instead of varying the pitch of the rotor blade throughout its rotation, these aircraft vary the power at each rotor to create directional control for horizontal movement.”

The Air Current Senior Editor Elan Head reported on Aug. 6 that the FAA expected that “all helicopter and rotorcraft rules as written today apply to special class rotorcraft,” while winged eVTOL aircraft do not yet have operational rules. Most glaringly, that leaves gaps in the agency’s plans to qualify pilots to fly these “Special Class Rotorcraft.” The Air Current asked if pilots would need “pilot certificates with a rotorcraft category and helicopter class rating, whether they will need endorsements or type ratings to fly special class rotorcraft, and whether pilots who do not currently hold rotorcraft-helicopter pilot certificates will have a pathway for flying special class rotorcraft without learning how to fly a conventional helicopter first.” The FAA declined to answer her questions directly, but said it would “continue to diligently evaluate any potential gaps that need to be addressed for special class rotorcraft.”

Powered-Lift SFAR Progresses
In June 2023, the FAA published a draft Special Federal Aviation Regulations (SFAR) on “Integration of Powered-Lift: Pilot Certification and Operations” (see www.vtol.org/sfar). VFS worked with numerous associations and member companies to provide detailed feedback on the document with broad consensus. Head reported on July 28 that the final SFAR has been completed and was “undergoing review by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), putting it on track to be finalized by October of this year.”

FAA Releases AI Roadmap
On July 23, the FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety David Boulter signed out “Version 1” of the agency’s “Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Safety Assurance.” In the foreword to the 31-page document, Boulter highlighted that the development of the roadmap was informed by a series of technical interchanges with industry and other aviation regulators. “It lays out a strategy to pursue both the safety of AI and the use of AI for safety. It exists within the larger ecosystem for the federal use of regulation of AI,” against the framework laid out in a 2023 Biden Administration Executive Order.

Head reported on Aug. 13 that the roadmap is aligned with the “emerging industry consensus on how to approach AI in commercial aviation — with an emphasis on treating AI as a tool, not a human.” She also noted the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) first published an AI roadmap in February 2020 and updated it in May 2023. “While the FAA has long since ceded leadership in AI to EASA — whose focus on the technology is aligned with the priorities of its largest customer, Airbus — the publication of its AI roadmap is nevertheless a welcome development, providing the industry with clarity on its position and the agency with a defining strategy for moving forward,” she wrote.

Civil Helicopter Operations Defended
On July 22, the US District Court for Hawaii overturned a section of the 2022 Hawaii Act 311 on “Tour Aircraft Operations” that imposed monthly reporting requirements on air tour operators in that state. The decision was in response to a lawsuit filed in April by Safari Helicopter and Vertical Aviation International (VAI), with substantial support from other VAI tour operator members. The lawsuit stated that the act mandated burdensome reporting requirements.

According to VAI, the decision reaffirms the doctrine of preemption, which reserves certain functions, including oversight of aviation, to the federal government.

“VAI and the air tour industry are committed to working with the communities where we live, work, and operate to elevate safety and community compatibility,” says Cade Clark, chief government affairs officer for VAI. “However, having a single regulator — the FAA — manage the National Airspace System ensures that our airspace does not become a confusing tangle of conflicting rules.”

This follows efforts earlier this year by VAI and other helicopter operators. The proposed Hawaii bill S.B.2747 would have mandated that air tour operators carry $20M per person in aircraft liability insurance, a requirement that would have devastated the industry. VAI engaged with Hawaii state legislators, informing them of industry’s concerns and collaborating with other industry organizations in opposing the bill, which died in legislative conference.

VAI’s opposition to New York S.9408 preserved New York City’s West 30th Street Heliport (KJRA). VAI said, “More than 96,000 emails were sent to New York state legislators, compelling them to amend the bill, which initially was aimed at closing the heliport.” Instead, the bill will preserve the heliport and form an advisory task force comprising city, industry, and business appointees to oversee its future. The bill was signed into law on July 25.