Wingcopter receives FAA approval for airworthiness criteria

Wingcopter, a German drone delivery pioneer, announces that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved Special Class Airworthiness Criteria for the Wingcopter 198 unmanned aircraft in the United States.

This approval is a significant step forward in the certification of Wingcopter's flagship eVTOL delivery drone in the United States.

Under title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), 21.17(b), the FAA establishes technological conditions that must be completed in order for an aircraft type to be approved for regular commercial operations in the United States.

"We are proud to be among the first delivery drone companies worldwide to ever get their Airworthiness Criteria approved by the FAA. This is a very important milestone for us, not only in our Type Certification Process in the U.S., but also for our international expansion efforts and for achieving our vision of building logistical highways in the sky. I would like to thank my team as well as the FAA for all the effort and great collaboration to reach this milestone", says Tom Plümmer, Co-Founder and CEO of Wingcopter.

The Wingcopter 198 was designed from the ground up to fulfil high safety criteria, in addition to being efficient for commercial and humanitarian delivery operations. Wingcopter was able to leverage more than five years of operational experience with the company's first delivery drone type in various geographical settings, from the Arctics to the Middle Eastern desert, and from remote islands in the South Pacific to San Diego Bay in the United States, in the development.

Wingcopter has worked extensively with the FAA since submitting for the Special Class Type Certificate in March 2020. Wingcopter may now concentrate its development efforts even more on what the FAA believes required for this aircraft to gain certification fast and effectively.

Wingcopter will be able to fly conventional routes across airspace and over populated areas once type-certified, creating the foundation for developing commercial drone delivery operations across the United States that will help save and enhance lives. The certification is also likely to benefit Wingcopter's future certification efforts, such as those with ANAC in Brazil or JCAB in Japan.

Wingcopter, a fast-growing technology and delivery service company with worldwide ambitions, is always recruiting for expertise in a variety of sectors, including software engineering and hardware development, flight testing, production, sales, and Drone-as-a-Service operations. The firm now employs 120 workers from over 20 nations.