The UK recently signed up to a new ‘roadmap’ which is designed to accelerate the certification of new aircraft types, and the approval of another country’s type certification. The catalyst for the new agreement, which includes the national aviation authorities of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, appears to be the need among governments to expedite the introduction of AAM aircraft, particularly either pure electric or hybrid powered vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Developed collaboratively by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), Transport Canada (TC), the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (NZ CAA), the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an intriguing omission is the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), bearing in mind that the UK CAA has accepted EASA SC-VTOL as the recommended airworthiness standards for certifying AAM aircraft.
PHOTO: VERTICAL AEROSPACE
