By Chris Stonor
The AiRMOUR project has identified areas of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) rules and regulation requirements covering the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), reports a press release.
While some laws regulating conventional air traffic and infrastructure are applicable to drones, others need to be rewritten or even created.
Previous UAMN Article:
AiRMOUR programme invites 10 cities to collaborate on fast-tracking UAM services
Airmour explains that UAM will be operating at lower altitudes and therefore requires integration into a cities’ internal infrastructure. This forms several new interfaces which need regulation. Cooperation with stakeholders like city planners and full assimilation with other air traffic are also necessary.
Gustaf Fylkner from Luftfartsverket, a Human Factors Specialist, commented, “To solve this we’ll need more research as we are dependent on the latest technologies to get drones to operate safely and as autonomously as possible. As an example, for the separation of drones we’ll require both new, safe and proven technology, as well as updated regulations.”
The release explains, “The standard rule for separation in conventional aviation is currently 1000 ft vertical or 3 nautical miles horizontally in the Terminal Maneuvering Area (TMA). Much of the UAM traffic will fly less than 500 ft above the ground and distances between Urban Air Vehicles must be smaller, likely depending on the ability to navigate and share their position and intention.”
It goes on, “Regulators have challenges to rule over something that has never happened before, even though there are pan-European initiatives to gain new regulations which would cover the emerging UAM services. When flying a drone in a specific or certified category, a rigorous process, e.g Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA), is required to prove that the flight is safe to conduct.”
Fylkner continued, “It is clear the current rules make it complicated and cumbersome to perform even experimental and validation flights. There is more to do before we’ll see commercial use on a wider scale. Additionally, aviation has to find solutions for charging infrastructure and handling of batteries in the same way the car industry has to find them.”
AiRMOUR Asks: –
: Are there rules in place today, on a national level?
: Do they vary?
: Are some solutions better than others?
: Is it possible to formulate a set of rules that would suit all different local applications?
If so, it would be better to have the same rules applied everywhere in the European Union and ultimately worldwide. Fylkner added, “Regulators should grasp this moment and implement the new rules on a wide basis.”
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