With the recent increase in activities related to advanced air mobility (AAM) using electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to move people and cargo between places, national regulators are also finding ways to coordinate a safe and harmonized introduction of new technologies in the civil aviation system. The latest development in this direction comes from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
EASA says it will work closely with ANAC, the national civil aviation agency of Brazil, to build the path toward the certification of air taxis and cargo drones. This agreement is important because these two agencies are the primary certification authorities for some of the leading air taxi developers including Brazil’s Eve Mobility and Germany’s Lilium and Volocopter.
Naturally, both EASA and ANAC have a common desire to balance aviation safety with environmental quality, as well as technological developments in aviation services. And as such, they want to cooperate on the harmonization of policies, procedures, and practices related to the certification of innovative eVTOL aircraft.
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More specifically, both sides intend to maintain recurrent communication at a technical level with the purpose of sharing experiences and leveraging knowledge related to the certification of air taxis and cargo drones. This will include joint participation and alignment in international technical groups involved with the development of standards applicable to eVTOL aircraft, eventually leading to the adoption of common or aligned technical standards for the same.
Moreover, EASA and ANAC plan to promote the benefits of concurrent validations to the industry, as a means to facilitate alignment of technical standards and compatibility of the civil aviation systems. The agencies will also coordinate the early involvement in technical conversations related to the certification of new eVTOL products where validation is intended.
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It’s worth highlighting that this is not the first time EASA is sharing knowledge and experience on AAM. Earlier this year, EASA joined forces with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) to get Japan to accept a type certification application for an aircraft under development from Volocopter.
Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau will now cooperate with EASA on this concurrent type certification in accordance with established aircraft design and manufacturing procedures while supporting the development of a common set of requirements in the process.
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