Challenges to the Operational Safety and Security of eVTOL Aircraft in Metropolitan Regions: A Literature Review

Abstract

The start of urban air mobility operations using helicopters began in 1940s in Los Angeles to transport passengers and mail between various locations. However, the concept of urban air mobility (UAM) only emerged in the 1960s. Its implementation used helicopters to avoid congestion by land, typical of populated metropolitan regions. However, there was a severe limitation in using these aircraft because of accidents, huge operating costs, and high noise generation levels. In 2010, a new UAM concept conceived electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. These vehicles, in principle, would be safer, with lower operating costs and less noisy than helicopters. Several aircraft manufacturers have developed dozens of eVTOL models, focusing on the feasibility of using them for UAM in some metropolitan regions. However, we must consider several challenges to materialize this new concept, including those related to operational safety and security. Among these challenges is these vehicle operations integration to the airspace structure and the air traffic control system, the new embedded and ground systems development, the ground infrastructure implementation to support the operations, the reliability of air navigation systems, the meteorological information provision in real-time and with complete coverage of metropolitan airspaces to be used by eVTOL, and others. Despite some similarities, this new UAM concept will not be identical for all urban regions due to differences related to topographies, weather, urban construction patterns and air traffic control systems. Therefore, local studies are essential to support gradual and safe implementations of operations with these vehicles. This paper presents a literature review, identifying and discussing the utmost safety and security-related challenges researchers observe.