
- 07 Jan 2025 11:42 AM
- 0
FAA Publishes EB 105A, Vertiport Design Guide
By Rex Alexander, VFS Infrastructure Advisor
With little to no fanfare, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released the final Engineering Brief EB 105A on their website, with the publication date of Dec. 27, 2024.
Updates Include:
1) Classification: Vertiports will be a subclass of heliports
2) Marking: Broken Wheel and EASA “V” are out, and the traditional H is in. The letters “VTL” on the TLOF will designate it as a vertiport.
3) Geometry: “RD”, i.e., Rotor Diameter, will now be a subset of “D” where RD = the smallest circle enclosing just the propulsion units.
4) Parking: Parking positions using hover and/or air taxi ops to be no smaller than the FATO and be dynamic load-bearing.
5) Downwash and Outwash: Added a downwash/outwash caution area (DCA).
The FAA is planning its EB 105A Vertiports Industry Day, Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 12-3 pm EST. Here the FAA will provide an overview of the final EB update, discuss some critical changes made to the document, and answer audience questions.
Details at https://www.faa.gov/airports/engineering/engineering_briefs.
The FAA’s next effort will be to incorporate this information into the Heliport Design Advisory Circular AC 150/5390-2D, which, according to the U.S. Congressional mandate, must be accomplished by the end of 2025. This would mean that any input and comments from industry will need to be submitted to the FAA this summer/fall on the forthcoming draft AC 150/5390-2D.
Learn more about the VFS infrastructure initiatives at www.vtol.org/infrastructure.
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