Industry stakeholders gathered on Monday at Heli-Expo for an “infrastructure day” to review and comment on the FAA’s draft engineering brief for a vertiport and vertistop design standard. The engineering brief will eventually produce an FAA advisory circular (AC) for vertiports.
Rex Alexander, principal of the heliport/vertiport consultancy Five Alpha, told AIN following the gathering that he believes this AC will be published no earlier than 2024, “but it is anybody’s guess” as to the timing. With companies expecting to inaugurate eVTOL passenger service by 2025, “we are on a pretty tight timeline” to provide feedback and impact the FAA standard, he added.
That standard is critical for harmonizing constituent parts, including national fire protection standards, local building codes, and insurance requirements. “If you don’t have a standard, what do you do then?” Alexander asked.
Stakeholders are making good progress akin to the input provided by the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team when the FAA’s heliport design guide was developed, according to Alexander. “The problem is that technology is always outpacing policy, but we are working really hard to get policy close.”