Fast-track Enabling innovative air mobility (IAM) / Vertical take-off and landing capable aircraft (VCA) (crewed and uncrewed) operations

Expected Outcome

To significantly advance the following development actions:

• IR-6-04 Enabling IAM/VTOL capable aircraft (crewed and uncrewed) operations, including in complex environments, congested areas and vertiports. This includes IAM operational procedures enabling access to all types of airspace and vertiports (both VMC and IMC) and IAM automation including simplified vehicle operations, automatic take-off and landing (TOL), resilient navigation, energy management, etc.

Research shall take into consideration the work done under EASA[1] on this element, especially in relation to General Aviation i-conspicuity needs.

Scope

The following list of R&I needs is proposed as an illustration of the potential project content, but it is not meant as prescriptive. Proposals may include other research elements beyond the proposed research elements below if they are justified by their contribution to achieve the expected outcomes of the topic and are fully aligned with the development priorities defined in the European ATM Master Plan.

• Vertiport management for crewed VCA

EC IR 2014/1111[2] established the requirements for operations of crewed VCA, with specific requirements for the specification in the operational flight plan of at least two safe landing options at the destination, as well as adequate vertiports, diversion locations for VTOL aircraft (carrying out flights for medical missions in urban areas) (VEMs) operating sites that are available and permit a landing to be executed in a critical failure for performance (CFP). The research must establish how to fulfil this requirement from the ATS perspective, addressing:

• If the landing sites should be introduced in the ATS flight plan (the regulation currently leaves this point open) and if so, how this would be done for both VFR aircraft and IFR aircraft. Note for IFR crewed VCA, the landing sites should be included in the FF-ICE flight plan and coordination is needed with the WA1 or WA3 projects working in this area).
• Design and validate process to book all landing sites from departure to destination and progressively release contingency sites as the flight progresses and investigate how this process will be integrated with ATM processes. Research should investigate if for VFR aircraft the booking of the landing sites should be linked to a new VFR flight plan acceptance process, to an ATC clearance to land at the destination and all the landing sites given at the time of take-off, to a FIS-like service declaring all sites are available is sufficient to cover the requirement, or a different U-space service needs to be defined. The legal liability in case the landing site is not available when the VCA arrives must be investigated.

The research must address the following cases:

• The destination is in a controlled airport that is not in U-space airspace. In this case, the research could develop an ATC reasonable assurance principle to allow the use of one or both landing spots planned in a VTOL capable aircraft (VCA) flight plan even after the VCA is already en-route. The adaptation of the conflicting ATC clearances safety net to support the concept could be investigated.
• The destination vertiport is in U-space airspace that is in controlled airspace. Note in this case the DAR principle in U-space regulation[3] applies, so that the airspace will be clear of drones and managed as controlled airspace during the conduct of the crewed VCA flight. The research may propose alternative airspace sharing concepts beyond what is possible within the current regulation.

The research must aim at delivering a TRL6 solution aimed at enabling the deployment of crewed VFR VCA and Progress towards a future solution applicable to crewed IFR VCA, for which an FF-ICE flight plan acceptance process must be defined and validated (for this point, coordination with relevant projects in WA1 and WA3 is required).

This element covers vertiport management for vertiports located in controlled airspace (class A-D) – which could also be in U-space airspace - and vertiports located in uncontrolled airspace (class F and G) that is not also declared as U-space airspace. Vertiports located in uncontrolled airspace that is also U-space airspace are covered in the element below (in this same WA).

Note that there is on-going work under project EUREKA.

• Advanced vertiport and VCA U-space services

This element covers vertiport management functions and activities that impact traffic management for vertiports located in U-space airspace, bearing in mind the constraints imposed by battery powered aircraft. This may include:

• Processes that determine or limit take off time.
• Processes that determine or limit landing time.
• Processes governing occupancy of critical resources such as the touchdown and lift-off area (TLOF).

These processes should be identified, and consideration given to their optimisation in the context of U-space including collaborative decision making and coordination as appropriate. Note that there is on-going work under project EUREKA.

This topic covers vertiport management for vertiports in uncontrolled airspace (airspace F and G) that is also declared to be U-space airspace (expected to have significant traffic of small drones); the focus of the research is to ensure separation between small drones and VCA vertiport users. Vertiports that are not located under U-space airspace or that are located in U-space airspace in controlled airspace are covered by the element above (in this same WA).

Initially, the scope is focused on crewed VCA operations, but it is expected that the same concepts will be applicable for uncrewed VCA.

• Crewed IFR VCA

The aim of the research is to develop the concept for IFR crewed VCA, building on existing SESAR solutions for IFR helicopters “Optimised low-level IFR routes for rotorcraft” (SESAR solution #113) and “Independent rotorcraft operations at airports” (SESAR solution PJ.02-05). The solution should assess the applicability of existing IFR rotorcraft procedures and flight planning processes to VCA, adapting them where necessary.

In particular, the research must assess how VCA energy management constraints may affect the capability of VCA aircraft to follow the type of IFR clearances in use for helicopters and develop and validate their use for VCA, proposing and validating new clearances where needed.

Note the flight planning aspects related to the introduction of the landing sites in the FF-ICE flight plan should are linked to vertiport management and hence in scope of the previous bullet point “Vertiport management for crewed VCA”.

• Automation of the VCA cockpit and remote pilot’s working position

The objective of this element is to address pilot digital assistance and automation support for the VCA cockpit to support a simplified VCA workload (e.g., aimed at a reduction of VCA crew workload related to pilot’s tasks and tasks related to communication with ATM, implementation of tactical ATC clearances, and on-board implementation of strategic changes to the flight plan in the execution phase for IFR VCA (after an FF-ICE/R2 revision process). The scope includes in particular the development of cockpit automation to support a concept for digital ATM communications via CPDLC during all phases of flight (en-route, TMA and airport).

The ultimate objective is to make it possible that the flight crew workload is reduced to support the concept of one remote pilot overseeing from its working position two or more VCAs.

Note that there is on-going work on this research element under project OPERA.

• Automatic take-off and landing (ATOL) for crewed or uncrewed VCA and helicopters

The scope includes the development of navigation and procedures to enable all -weather take-off and landing for crewed or uncrewed VCA. Resilience of the navigation solution must be addressed. The solution is expected to progress from an initial flight-director-based concept towards the end goal of autopilot-based ATOL. Charts, procedure design and avionics should be addressed. Note that similarly to what happens today with Autoland for fixed-wing aircraft today, air traffic aspects e.g. clearance for approach, take-off and landing are not different in ATOL from vs. manual TOL (just like whether Autoland is used does not change the way ATM currently manages a flight), and hence do not need to be covered by this solution.

Note that there is on-going work on this research element under project OPERA.

• ATC and flight information service (FIS) automation support

VCA will first be certified as VFR, to later progress to IFR. The objective of the research is to increase the level of automation of VFR aircraft by ATC and FIS. Flight data processing systems (FDPSs) are designed for supporting ATC in the management of IFR aircraft, and typically do not provide adequate functionality to support ATC for the management of VFR aircraft. This results in VFR flights often causing unexpected ATS workload in the lower airspace. Research shall develop ATS automation tools and procedures to provide ATC or FIS services to VFR aircraft in airspace C-G and FIS services to IFR aircraft in uncontrolled airspace (airspace F and G). Research shall aim, as much as possible, at developing tools and concepts that can be applicable to both ATC (TWR or En-Route/TMA) and AFIS. The tools and procedures to be applicable will be applicable for all equipped VFR aircraft (not just VCA):

• Development of a new FF-ICE-like flight plan standard for VFR aircraft.
• Improve ATC ground systems for handling VFR flights and for supporting the transition IFR to VFR and VFR to IFR.
• One of the difficulties for the management of VFR aircraft is that they are not subject to the same ATC clearance requirements, and they do not have to adhere to their flight plan like IFR aircraft. The research may investigate how to reduce the uncertainty on VFR flights (e.g., by using new methods based on artificial intelligence/machine learning to better forecast VFR traffic).
• The research may investigate methods allowing VFR aircraft to share their intended route with ATC (e.g., via the downlink of the planned trajectory from an EFB using the applicable air/ground SWIM standard).
• Automation support for the provision of traffic information, potentially including fully automated provision of routine traffic information via VHF by a digital voice.
• The research should investigate the applicable safe wake turbulence separation from other traffic (for VCA), on approach and departure, beyond the initial requirement from EASA Prototype Specification, and in particular the ability to sustain possible encounter with wake vortices, generated by other aircraft or (large) rotorcraft. VCA (as multi-rotor vehicles) might have the same controllability / control authority (crewed or uncrewed) as other rotorcraft or as fixed wing aircraft, and this should be further studied and understood, based on state-of-the-art wake turbulence characterisation capabilities and risk assessment methodologies, in order to assess the need for applicability of standard or specific wake turbulence separation or management requirements.

This research will pave the way for the introduction of digital flight rules, which is currently in scope of exploratory research.

[1] https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/research-projects/i-conspicuity-interoperability-electronic-conspicuity-systems-general-aviation

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2024/1111/oj

[3] European Commission Implementing Rules EU IR 2021/664 and EU IR/665.