The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued for public inspection the final airworthiness criteria for Archer Aviation’s (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) Midnight aircraft. This regulatory milestone provides the solidified path for Archer to achieve type certification for Midnight. Archer claims to be one of the two companies in the world to achieve this certification progress with the FAA for an eVTOL aircraft.

The finalization of Archer’s airworthiness criteria unlocks the ability for Archer to work with the FAA to obtain the remaining final approvals on its certification and test plans. This is a critical step as Archer continues to ramp up its “for credit” testing with the FAA and prepares to begin its piloted flight testing later this year.

“Midnight is one giant step closer to taking passengers into the sky in the coming years in the U.S.,” says Billy Nolen, Archer chief regulatory affairs officer and former administrator of the FAA. “Thank you to the team at the FAA for their continued hard work in support of making the electrification of aviation a reality.”

Archer has been putting Midnight’s systems and components through rigorous testing as part of its safety of flight readiness for our upcoming piloted flight tests later this year and in support of its ongoing FAA certification program. Additionally, the company has made progress on the construction of its first three piloted conforming Midnight aircraft. The first aircraft in this initial fleet will begin piloted flight testing later this year, and subsequently be used in “for credit” flight testing with the FAA as the company progresses toward commercialization.