EASA, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, has published Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) 2024-06 to consult unmanned aviation stakeholders and citizens on draft proposals for the initial and continued airworthiness of certified unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
EASA proposes amendments to the existing acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM) for the UAS Regulation and Part 21, as well as new AMC and GM for the recently published Regulations EU 2024/1107 and EU 2024/1109, which were based on EASA Opinion No 03/2023.
The draft proposals have the following objectives:
- To ensure a high and uniform level of safety for UAS subject to certification and operated in the specific and certified category. - Provide guidance to competent authorities of EU Member States for the implementation of the UAS Regulation.
- Support the implementation of the new regulatory framework applicable to UAS.
- Assist affected stakeholders in understanding the specificities of the new regulatory framework.
- Address the novelties of UAS compared to manned aviation.
Regulations (EU) 2024/1107 and (EU) 2024/1109 were issued in May following the publication of EASA Opinion No 03/2023 in August 2023. Opinion No 03/2023 contained regulatory material for the airworthiness and certification of UAS, including vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft and air taxis. NPA 2024-01 related to the draft AMC and GM on VTOL-capable aircraft was published in January 2024. This NPA is a further step in this rulemaking effort (RMT.0230), which will conclude with the publication of the final AMC and GM under the respective Executive Director Decisions in order to make advanced air mobility projects viable.
For example, the lack of equipment certification prevented Volocopter from carrying out its planned flights during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Despite these obstacles, Volocopter remains optimistic about the future. The company plans to resume its Paris flights later this year, with the hope of flying over the Seine before the grand reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in December, although this is obviously dependent on regulatory developments in this area.
The road to widespread adoption of eVTOLs is still fraught with technical and regulatory challenges. The eVTOL industry as a whole is grappling with the complexities of designing, building and certifying an entirely new type of aircraft. These unmanned aircraft must not only meet rigorous safety standards inherent to manned aviation, but must also demonstrate their environmental and operational benefits. We must also not forget the demand they must generate for projects to implement these types of services to be economically viable.
We leave you the link to the EASA press release in case you want to contribute to the regulatory progress:
https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/newsroom-and-events/news/easa-launches-public-consultation-proposals-drone-airworthiness-and?utm_campaign=w-20240909&utm_term=pro&mtm_source=notifications&mtm_medium=email&utm_content=title&mtm_placement=content&mtm_group=easa_news
