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The Federal Aviation Administration says it’s ready to open the door to air taxis after finalizing a rule covering how pilots of the flying vehicles will be trained.
The rule outlines the qualifications needed to certify instructors and pilots and defines the air taxis’ minimum safe altitudes and required visibility.
“The rule is the final piece in the puzzle for safely introducing these aircraft in the near term,” the FAA said in the announcement. The agency plans to enforce the new rule over the next 10 years before considering permanent regulations.
FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker says the new rule fills gaps in the agency’s existing authority to regulate the air taxis, which adopt characteristics of both airplanes and helicopters.
“We made this rule flexible and not overly prescriptive because we anticipate a lot of diversity among powered-lift designs,” Whitaker wrote in a blog post. “The rule applies helicopter operating requirements to some phases of flight and adopts a performance-based approach to certain operating rules.”
One example of the FAA’s approach to flexibility is allowing air taxi pilots to train in vehicles that only contain a single set of flight controls; legacy rules require two flight controls in the craft.
The new rule, which spans 880 pages, also says the air taxis must never fly below 300 feet in altitude during day operations in “vertical lift fly mode.” The altitude requirements increase to 500 feet if the air taxi is in “wing-borne” mode. Other parts of the rule say pilots will need 100 hours of logged flight time before receiving certification, 50 of which must be made in an air taxi.
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“Getting these aircraft into service is now up to the manufacturers and operators,” Whitaker added. “Manufacturers must build aircraft that meet our strict safety standards, and some are very close.”
The FAA plans to require the air taxis to fly existing helicopter routes already in the skies. The pilots will also need to communicate with air traffic control when necessary.
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