From August 2nd – 3rd, the FAA hosted its AAM Summit in Baltimore, bringing together the broad spectrum of AAM stakeholders to collaborate and address challenges and opportunities in bringing eVTOLs and related innovations to market in the near future. Challenges addressed at the Summit included: regulatory uncertainty, standards harmonization, gaining public trust in new technologies (including autonomy), data transmission (ADS-B and radio spectrum), low altitude weather data, cybersecurity, and operations management (deconfliction with general aviation). Throughout the Summit, government and industry stakeholders alike emphasized that a whole of government approach will be needed to achieve this new era of aviation. To address AAM challenges and ensure alignment and collaboration between government and industry, representatives from the FAA urged stakeholders to submit comments on DOT’s Request for Information on Advanced Air Mobility (“AAM RFI”) by August 16, 2023. Based on discussions at the Summit, some areas that industry stakeholders should…
In brief Development and integration of critical infrastructure for electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft remains critical for the wide-scale adoption and the future of Advanced Air Mobility (“AAM”). With the path towards certification rapidly gaining momentum, the first commercial eVTOL operations are likely to begin as early as 2025. While initial operations will be rely on existing infrastructure (e.g., airports/heliports), the long-term success of AAM will depend heavily on the development of new facilities and capabilities needed to support the operational ecosystem. The complex legal issues around AAM infrastructure include federal airspace and local zoning issues, digital infrastructure, multimodal, and power sources – to name a few. This alert provides an overview of the key infrastructure requirements and legal challenges for AAM, with a focus on vertiports as the essential facilities for take-off and landing of eVTOL aircraft. Importantly, industry stakeholders have an opportunity to provide comments to…
The FAA has selected the New York UAS Test Site at the Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York for a project supporting safe drone integration and the development of a new traffic management system for unmanned aircraft systems. The project is designed to test and evaluate new applications for use in future UAS traffic management (“UTM”) systems. The selected test site is part of New York’s 50-Mile Drone Corridor, which facilitates beyond visual line of sight (“BVLOS”) testing and advanced uncrewed aircraft operations. The project will be managed by the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (“NUAIR”), a nonprofit organization that manages the New York UAS Test Site, and will also involve the participation of several other partners, including NRA Technologies, OneSky, AX Enterprize, Cal Analytics, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, and Oneida Indian Nation. This project represents the FAA’s continued recognition of the need to support and integrate…
Last week in a unanimous opinion, the D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the FAA’s 2021 Remote ID Rule, finding the Petitioner’s various constitutional and procedural claims without merit. Remote ID requirements, akin to requiring a “digital license plate,” are widely supported by industry as an essential stepping stone to the expanded use of drones in U.S. airspace. In essence, Remote ID will allow drones to be identified while airborne, greatly enhancing safety and security of drone operations. The FAA’s Remote ID Rule requires operators to have Remote-ID equipped UAS by September 2023. In this case, the Petitioner’s challenges to the Remote ID Rule were primarily focused on concerns that Remote ID technology could allow the government to carry out continuous surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Other claims included procedural claims alleging the rule was arbitrary and capricious, among others. In dismissing the facial challenge, the Court found that…
According to a FAA statement reported by multiple media outlets last week, the FAA has decided to modify its regulatory approach and certify electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft as a “special class” aircraft using the existing “powered-lift” aircraft category. As discussed previously, the FAA has been deciding between two approaches to the type certification of eVTOLs—either (a) type certification using airworthiness standards in 14 C.F.R. Part 23 for “Normal Category Airplanes,” which normally fly only horizontally, combined with special conditions for eVTOLs (e.g., vertical flight), or (b) certification under the FAA’s aircraft certification procedures for “special classes” of aircraft in 14 C.FR. § 21.17 (b) (“Special Class Framework”), whereby airworthiness standards derived from other FAA regulations are incorporated as appropriate. The ultimate direction will have significant implications for both eVTOLs’ route to market and future operational requirements (e.g., pilot requirements, infrastructure, etc.). In light of the industry’s expectation…
As momentum around Advanced Air Mobility (“AAM”) continues to build, regulators have taken several recent steps in support of the development and commercialization of electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft. eVTOLs are an innovative and emerging AAM technology with potential to deliver sustainable passenger and cargo transportation in urban, inter-city, and rural use cases, using electric power to take off, hover, and land vertically. The regulatory regime for eVTOLs and AAM is rapidly taking shape, and stakeholder awareness and engagement will be critical on issues such as infrastructure, streamlining regulations across jurisdictions, and aircraft certification. Recent developments in these areas include: On March 2, 2022, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) published a Federal Register notice requesting public comments on a draft Engineering Brief (EB) 105 for Vertiport Design.On March 3, 2022, the FAA and the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (“UK CAA”) issued a joint statement announcing that…
On August 17, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), and the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a joint interagency advisory on the use of technology to detect and mitigate unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS” or “drones”) by non-federal public and private entities. The disabling or destruction of a drone through physical force or electronic interference (such as jamming) is a federal crime. The joint advisory provides an overview of the federal laws and regulations that apply to various UAS detection and mitigation measures, which include not only criminal statutes enforced by DOJ, but also a range of laws and regulations administered by the FAA, FCC, and DHS. As detailed in the joint advisory, the use of technology to track and monitor UAS may have numerous legal consequences, even when no action is taken to disable or interfere with a UAS. Accordingly,…
On July 24, 2020, the Trump Administration announced a new policy (the “Updated UAS Policy”) on exports of US-origin unmanned aerial systems (“UAS”), also known as “drones.” The Updated UAS Policy follows the Trump Administration’s UAS policy reforms announced in April 2018 (“April 2018 UAS Export Policy”), which allowed exports of certain US-origin armed and unarmed UAS to occur via direct sales between US companies and foreign end users. Our previous blog post on the April 2018 UAS Export Policy is available here. The Updated UAS Policy does not change UAS export licensing requirements under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations or the Export Administration Regulations, but does remove a major restriction on exports of US-origin UAS. The Trump Administration’s new policy comes at a time when the UAS regulatory climate is undergoing rapid transformation. As previously discussed on Baker McKenzie’s UAS Insights blog, the Federal Aviation Administration is in…
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has issued guidance for the use of counter-unmanned aircraft systems (“C-UAS”) actions by federal law enforcement agencies, which are authorized by the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018 (the “Act”). The guidance establishes a process for the federal government to select facilities and assets that warrant protection with C-UAS technology, and sets forth the types of C-UAS actions that may be authorized. UAS operators should stay apprised of these developments to ensure that their operations remain lawful and do not trigger C-UAS actions in response, and should look for opportunities to help shape C-UAS policies going forward. Under the Act, codified at 6 U.S.C. § 124n, the U.S. Attorney General may authorize federal law enforcement agencies to take certain actions to mitigate threats posed by UAS to particular assets or facilities identified by federal law enforcement agencies. Id. § 124n(a). To be covered under the Act,…
Last month, the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes) (“SCT”) published a Mexican Official Standard (“NOM-107”) establishing requirements to operate Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (“RPAS” – also known as “UAS” or “drones”) in Mexican air space. NOM-107 classifies RPAS into different categories based on their maximum take-off weight. Regardless of their classification, RPAS may be operated for (a) recreational, (b) private non-commercial, and (c) commercial use. Operators are required to comply with certain requirements depending on the classification and use of the RPAS. In general terms, all RPAS must be registered before the recently created Federal Civil Aviation Agency (Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil) (“AFAC”), which is charged with enforcing the guidelines to operate RPAS. RPAS used for private non-commercial and commercial purposes must carry civil liability insurance. NOM-107 regulates RPAS for private non-commercial and commercial use differently from RPAS for recreational use. In this…