The US Federal Aviation Administration has promulgated a final rule covering the operation of electric air taxis and how pilots will be trained to operate them.
In a document entitled “Integration of Powered-Lift: Pilot Certification and Operations; Miscellaneous Amendments Related to Rotorcraft and Airplanes—Final Rule,” the agency recognized, as FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker noted, the first new category of aircraft in nearly 80 years, since the dawn of the helicopter.
Power-lifted aircraft take off and land vertically but fly like fixed-wing planes. A number of companies, including Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, have been testing prototypes of such flying machines, but until now, there has been little clarity in the US over which regulations would govern their use.
The new rule recognizes air taxis as a separate and distinct type of aircraft, said Whitaker, who noted that these aircraft will soon join airplanes and helicopters in the friendly skies.
Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt praised the news, stating that the FAA’s new rules “will ensure the US continues to play a global leadership role in the development and adoption of clean flight.“
Source: Federal Aviation Administration