New Audit Announcements

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In recent years, interest in Urban Air Mobility (UAM)—the use of highly automated or autonomous aircraft to transport passengers within urban areas—has grown significantly. This new technology promises many benefits for transportation efficiency but also creates new and complex safety challenges for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) aircraft certification process. Given the challenges surrounding the certification of UAM aircraft, the Ranking Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Subcommittee on Aviation requested that we assess FAA’s processes for applying existing airworthiness standards and guidance to this novel technology. Accordingly, the audit objective will be to determine FAA’s progress in establishing the basis for certification of UAM aircraft, including ensuring the safety of novel features and providing guidance to applicants.