FAA BVLOS Right-of-Way, DJI Rescue Drones, and eVTOL Certification Delays

The FAA’s proposed rules for routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations are approaching another major regulatory milestone. The proposed framework, titled “Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations,” has reached review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

The rules would establish a new Part 108 operating framework for larger and more complex drone operations. Part 107 generally governs small unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds and is built largely around visual-line-of-sight flying. Part 108 would provide a pathway for specialized commercial operations involving aircraft weighing as much as 1,320 pounds, including autonomous package delivery and other routine BVLOS missions.

One of the most controversial ideas is that compliant Part 108 drones could receive presumptive right-of-way over some crewed aircraft. Max Trescott and David Vanderhoof discuss why such a provision might be considered necessary. BVLOS aircraft may be connected to UAS traffic-management services that coordinate their routes and detect participating traffic, but they do not necessarily provide operators with the unrestricted situational awareness available to a pilot looking outside a cockpit.

The problem is that many crewed aircraft operating at low altitude are not electronically visible. Agricultural airplanes may fly without ADS-B equipment, active radio communication or even conventional transponders when operating outside controlled airspace. Helicopters, firefighting aircraft and other low-altitude operators may encounter drones in locations where neither participant expects the other.

Max argues that relying on pilots to visually detect small drones is unrealistic. Even full-size airplanes can be difficult to see from another aircraft until they are dangerously close. A small drone may be almost impossible to identify early enough to avoid. Although traffic-management systems may safely handle nearly all routine encounters, even a very small failure rate becomes important when thousands of BVLOS drones are operating every day.

DJI is also central to several of the episode’s stories. The first is our Video of the Week. During severe flooding in China, two people became trapped on top of a tanker truck that was nearly submerged by fast-moving water. Rescue boats reportedly could not reach them safely because of the current and underwater obstructions. Responders deployed a large DJI agricultural drone capable of lifting approximately 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds.

The drone carried the two victims individually from the truck to safety. Suspending a person beneath an uncrewed aircraft would normally be considered extremely hazardous, but in this case the alternative was leaving the victims exposed to rising floodwaters. The rescue demonstrates how heavy-lift drones may eventually assist lifeguards, firefighters and emergency-response teams by delivering flotation devices, towing people from dangerous water or conducting brief human-carrying rescues when conventional methods are unavailable.

DJI is also moving into larger electric-aircraft technology. The company has reportedly tested the EV50, a winged electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft capable of carrying approximately 50 kilograms. The aircraft combines vertical-lift rotors with a fixed wing that improves efficiency during forward flight.

The EV50 was used near Mount Everest to collect high-altitude atmospheric samples. Electric propulsion offered a significant scientific advantage because exhaust from conventional airplanes or helicopters can contaminate the air being measured. DJI has revealed relatively little about its long-term plans for the aircraft, but its extensive experience with batteries, electric motors, flight controls and autonomous systems could make it an important future eVTOL developer.

Electra also achieved an important FAA certification milestone for its EL9. The agency accepted a Part 23 certification basis for the nine-passenger hybrid-electric aircraft. Unlike aircraft from Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation and other true eVTOL developers, the EL9 does not take off vertically. It uses eight wing-mounted propellers and blown-lift technology to operate from a runway approximately 150 feet long.

Electra says the aircraft will carry nine passengers or up to 3,000 pounds of cargo. Its ability to use the familiar Part 23 certification framework could allow it to reach the market more quickly than aircraft certified under the FAA’s developing powered-lift rules. The tradeoff is that the EL9 still requires a short runway, even though that runway is only a fraction of the length required by most conventional airplanes.

Vertical Aerospace faces a more difficult certification timeline. The company has moved its anticipated certification date for the Valo eVTOL from 2028 to 2029. Vertical has announced conditional commitments for approximately 1,500 aircraft from customers that include American Airlines and Japan Airlines.

The delay reflects a recurring challenge across the eVTOL industry. Many manufacturers are startups that have never previously certified an aircraft. At the same time, aviation regulators are establishing new requirements for aircraft configurations they have not certified before. Companies often announce optimistic schedules, but design changes, regulatory interpretation, flight testing and documentation can add years to the process.

DJI has also introduced a parachute safety system for the Matrice 400. The standalone system can shut down the aircraft’s rotors in approximately 600 milliseconds and lower the drone under a parachute at about five meters per second. That descent rate could still injure someone, but it is considerably safer than an uncontrolled fall. A parachute may also protect an expensive aircraft and could eventually influence safety designs for larger eVTOLs.

Other drone stories include Zipline beginning prescription deliveries for Cleveland Clinic patients and an LAPD helicopter colliding with a drone. Max says at least six drone-helicopter collisions have been confirmed in the United States, though only about half resulted in sufficient damage to qualify as accidents. One confirmed collision involving a fixed-wing airplane occurred when a drone damaged a CL-415 firefighting aircraft during the Palisades Fire.

The episode concludes with positive drone applications. New South Wales is expanding drone shark patrols, the FAA has approved Drone Amplified’s MONTIS aircraft for avalanche-control work, and DJI FlyCart drones are transporting supplies and removing waste from Mount Everest. The Everest operation moved more than 20,000 pounds of material. A route that can take a Sherpa approximately eight dangerous hours through the Khumbu Icefall can be completed by a drone in about eight minutes.