With testing of a subscale uncrewed demonstrator underway in waters off Tampa, Florida, Regent has solidified its maritime certification path with confirmations from U.S. and European aviation regulators that its planned wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) regional transports are not considered aircraft.
Germany’s Lilium has taken another step in the type certification process for its electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi, submitting its means of compliance to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Long-time agency official Lirio Liu will take over as executive director of FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service, replacing Earl Lawrence, who moves to the NextGen Office to become deputy assistant administrator.
EHang is targeting mid-2022 for Chinese certification of its EH216-S autonomous two-seat air vehicle and preparing to announce the first group of Chinese cities where it plans to launch commercial urban air mobility services in the second half of the year following airworthiness approval.
Archer Aviation has conducted wind tunnel tests of the propulsion units for its electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi as it progresses toward the preliminary design review for its production aircraft.
An FAA advisory group has recommended regulatory requirements for flying small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) beyond the vision of an operator, a capability considered key to the commercial exploitation of drones
Residents' concerns about the impact of nearby flight operations on their land value are especially relevant to urban air mobility as eVTOLs and cargo drones hope to operate in the heart of urban areas.
Until there is more available data on what a stabilized approach is for an eVTOL aircraft, the FAA will maintain a conservative approach as to how vertiports should be safely built.
The U.S. Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General is to audit the FAA’s certification of urban air mobility aircraft at the request of Congress.
Volocopter has received a first tranche of $170 million in Series E financing, with additional investment in the pipeline as the German electric vertical takeoff and landing startup works toward launching urban air taxi service in 2024.
Airworthiness regulations with which EHang must comply to type certify its EH216 autonomous air taxi have been published by the Civil Aviation Authority of China, taking the startup a step closer to launching urban air mobility services with its self-flying vehicle.
In a letter to FAA employees released by the agency, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said that he has “made the very difficult decision to step down” less than three years into his five-year appointment.
The FAA is studying the concept of a new set of operational rules and regulations dubbed automated flight rules, which will be designed to handle the huge increase in mainly low altitude air traffic anticipated with the emergence of new generation advanced air mobility vehicles.
Elbit Systems’ StarLiner medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system has received type certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel, approving the aircraft to fly in civil airspace.
Environmental regulations for aviation, such as mandates to use sustainable aviation fuel mandates and hydrogen technology certification, should be backed by an international framework set out by ICAO, a French parliamentary report says.
The operator of an FAA-designated test site for unmanned aircraft systems said the agency has authorized it to fly drones beyond an operator’s vision within a 50-mi. airspace corridor in New York State.
The U.S. aviation and telecommunications industries have deescalated—at least temporarily—their clash over an issue that threatens to further disrupt airline operations during the COVID-19 pandemic: the potential of new 5G wireless networks interfering with aircraft electronics.
AT&T and Verizon have agreed to delay deploying 5G wireless services using C-band spectrum for two weeks beyond the scheduled Jan. 5 start date, giving the FAA more time to prevent airspace system disruptions arising from the potential of interference with aircraft radio altimeters.
Behind the scenes of the aviation and telecommunications industries’ clash over 5G wireless transmissions, aviation standards organization RTCA is developing performance specifications for a new generation of radio altimeters that would be hardened against 5G interference.
Telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon have refused a high-level U.S. government appeal to delay activating new 5G wireless networks on Jan. 5 as scheduled, offering instead to draw temporary exclusion zones around certain airports to protect against the possibility of interference with aircraft radio altimeters.
