Our monthly newsletter contains regulatory information to keep you updated on December’s latest releases in the drone industry. Read on to find out how drones and eVTOLs will be impacted from the perspective of users, business owners and regulators.
EASA launched the 1st version of the Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) Hub, a digital platform designed to address concerns of the local citizens regarding air taxis and drones in European cities.
The platform received its funding from the European Commission and the European Parliament, allowing cities, national authorities, drone operators and manufacturers to connect and share valuable information on aerial cities.
The IAM Hub provides transparency to the citizens, and they are able to access important information on drone operations, such as noise levels, safety and sustainability.
The project plans to use the Hub to ease the concerns of citizens by providing information on the benefits of the technology and addressing their questions through public EASA surveys.
EASA has released two sets of Environmental Protection Technical Specifications (EPTS) for aircraft capable of Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL). The specifications were created to define a uniform level of environmental protection and to prevent any significant impact on human health due to noise.
The specifications are aligned with the mandatory EASA Basic Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and incorporate feedback from manufacturers, academia and aviation authorities to detail and clarify the noise assessment standards.
The first EPTS document is the final version and applies to VCAs powered with non-tilting rotors, while the second is published for consultation and focuses on VCAs powered with tilting rotors.
Both EPTS documents have identical allowable noise levels in ATOO phases and are based on the legacy international noise standards for tilt rotors.
The documents are open for public consultation until February 13, 2024, via the Comment Response Tool (CRT).
Florian Guillermet has been selected as the future Executive Director of EASA by the EASA Management Board. He brings with him over 26 years of aviation experience, in particular Air Navigation and Air Traffic Management. Florian has previously held key roles at SESAR Joint Undertaking, EUROCONTROL, and the French DGCA.
He was selected using a transparent procedure led by the European Commission. The members collected merit, competence and relevant experience in civil aviation information to elect the Executive Director.
Florian plans to guide EASA towards greener aviation while maintaining strong safety standards. His formal appointment to the role is expected on February 15, 2024, taking over from Luc Tytgat, the current Acting Executive Director.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) issued “Guidance on Enhanced Containment, FTS and MOC Light-UAS.2511” to outline the requirements for enhanced containment and associated Means of Compliance (MoC) as per step 9 of the SORA risk assessment to Light-UAS.2511.
The document references Regulation (EU) 2019/947 for unmanned aircraft operation and defines enhanced containment requirements with an emphasis on preventing UAS operations beyond designated areas of space.
The MoC Light-UAS.2511 provides a checklist and tests for declaring compliance with the operational authorisation for UAS operations up to SAIL II with a primary focus on Flight Termination Systems (FTS) with a failure probability of below 10-2 per flight hour.
Operators wishing to use FTS as enhanced containment must request a declaration of compliance with MoC.2511 and evidence from FTS manufacturers or use a pre-assessed configuration. These UAS/FTS can be found in Annex A of the document.
EUROCAE’s draft document, ED-325 Vol. I, “Guidance Document for Special Condition Light - UAS - Medium Risk - Volume 1,” was created to support Means of Compliance (MoC) for EASA Special Condition Light-UAS - Medium Risk for Type Certification of UAS in SAIL III and IV operations within the ‘specific category’.
The document is Volume 1 of 2 and consists of MoC proposals for EASA Special Condition Light UAS - Medium Risk subparts C, D and H. It also allows for reference to ED-279 “GENERIC FUNCTIONAL HAZARD ASSESSMENT (FHA) FOR UAS/RPAS” and ED-280 “GUIDELINES FOR UAS SAFETY ANALYSIS FOR THE SPECIFIC CATEGORY (LOW AND MEDIUM LEVELS OF ROBUSTNESS)” when possible and deemed acceptable.
Stakeholders who would like to review and comment have the chance to do so until January 30 2024, via the EUROCAE workspace.
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See you in the skies and beyond,
Team Murzilli
