The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has confirmed it will adopt the Special Condition (SC) standards used by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as the basis for eVTOL certification in the UK.
Rob Bishton, CAA’s group director for safety and airspace regulation said, “The decision to adopt SC-VTOL as our certification basis will support UK manufacturers and enable them to easily access the global market for eVTOL aircraft.”
Special conditions allow manufactures and aviation authorities to develop safety requirements and provide a basis for approval as new eVTOL technology emerges. The CAA says harmonising these standards across nations helps maintain high levels of safety, reduces industry costs and avoids duplicating efforts.
In implementing these new standards, the agency said it will continue to collaborate with other aviation authorities to share approaches, lessons learned and safety insight. This includes continuing to work with the US Federal Aviation Administration to facilitate certification, smoothing the path for eVTOL developers to receive concurrent validation.
The CAA’s announcement was welcomed by eVTOL developers looking for a clearer path to certify in both regions. UK based eVTOL developer Vertical Aerospace said the news supports the company’s plan to obtain concurrent type certification in the UK and Europe and the decision will “enable swift validation of its VX4 aircraft worldwide.”
“The UK confirming these high standards is a pivotal and positive step toward building a world-leading zero emissions aircraft in Britain,” said Michael Cervenka, president of Vertical. “It is vital that passengers and the public have the same trust in eVTOLs as in today’s passenger planes, as we try to make flying faster, smarter, and greener.”
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