eVTOL to Replace Helicopters

I have covered the subject of Electric Vertical Take-Off & Landing (eVTOL) vehicles on Biz Jet TV a number of times.

As some of you know the pilots that died in the Leicester City stadium helicopter crash were friends of mine. Eric Swaffer (the Captain) was a very experienced and capable helicopter & jet pilot. Eric was also an examiner (check Airman) on Boeing BBJ. Talking to the accident investigators they said that Eric miraculously managed to level the helicopter at 35 feet from the ground, to then lose control again at 8 feet. There is nothing Eric, nor any pilot in the world could have done to bring that helicopter down safely.

Since that crash my question has been:

Are helicopters safe?

According to the latest statistics from the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), the number of helicopter accidents in Europe dropped from 103 in 2013 to 43 in 2017, more than half. The number of fatal accidents has dropped from 25 to 11 in the same period.

The European Helicopter Safety Team (EHST), too, says that 311 accidents were reported in Europe between 2000 and 2005; this fell to 162 between 2006 and 2010.

Of the 49 countries surveyed between 2013 and 2017, “total civil helicopter accidents in 2017 were down six per cent compared to the prior year and fatal accidents were reduced by 17 percent year-over-year,” while “comparing 2017 to 2013, total accidents decreased by 32 per cent and fatal accidents were cut by 44 per cent,” the IHST report said.

The FAA said: "Prior to 2006, the number of worldwide civil helicopter accidents was rising at a rate of 2.5 per cent per year. Since 2006, the worldwide civil helicopter fleet has grown by 30 per cent but the number of accidents has decreased in key global regions by 30 to 50 per cent."

So according to the stats , helicopter flying is getting safer but it is also very expensive.

eVTOLs represent a step forward for vertical flight as designs progress away from single rotor to distributed propulsion solutions. Many eVTOLs use IDEP (Integrated distributed electric propulsion) employing several (sometimes up to 18) rotors for vertical lift. Rotor speed is independently controlled, thereby improving handling qualities and redundancies in the instance a single rotor should experience an anomaly. According to Uber Elevate’s whitepaper, eVTOL developers claim to achieve levels of safety four times safer than that of helicopters (which equates to approximately double the current safety standards in autos).

Additionally, the majority of helicopter accidents occur due to pilot or planning errors. With the advent of advanced autonomous flight control systems (updated with weather, air traffic information, and iterative flight path information) eVTOLs reduce risks associated with operator error. Even the initial piloted operations of eVTOLs will still be enhanced by the greater capabilities of flight control augmentation and situational awareness that accompanies vehicles designed for autonomous operation.

eVTOL are not only proving to be a lot safer than helicopters in the design but also cost a fraction to operate. I think it will take a while for people to completely trust getting on an eVTOL that is piloted by AI but that will be coming soon...

Recent NASA study on Urban Air Mobility looks at 3 cases:

Use case 1 – Last-mile delivery

Rapid delivery of packages (less than 5 lb.) from local distribution hubs to a dedicated receiving vessel. Deliveries are unscheduled and routed as online orders are placed

Use case 2 – Air metro

Resembles current public transit options such as subways and buses, with pre-determined routes, regular schedules, and set stops in high traffic areas throughout each city. Vehicles are autonomously operated and can accommodate 2 to 5 passengers at a time, with an average load of 3 passengers per trip

Use case 3 – Air taxi

The air taxi use case is a near-ubiquitous (or door-to-door) ride-sharing operation that allows consumers to call vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOLs) to their desired pickup locations and specify drop-off destinations at rooftops throughout a given city. Rides are unscheduled and on demand like ride-sharing applications today. Like the air metro case, vehicles are autonomously operated and can accommodate 2 to 5 passengers at a time, with an average load of 1 passenger per trip 

Cities like Singapore, Guangzhou, Miami and Vancouver have signed-up to offering Urban Air Mobility networks to their citizens. So, you will be able to land your Gulfstream G650 private jet intoVancouver, jump into an eVTOL and be downtown for your meeting within a few minutes.

I still think the larger helicopters will be around, until the eVTOLs will have big enough batteries to lift 16 seater vehicles into the sky. However, if you are a helicopter manufacturer...you could be out of business within next 5-10 years!

Fabrizio Poli is President of Orville Aviation Group. He is also an accomplished Airline Transport Pilot having flown both private Jets and for the airlines. Fabrizio is also a bestselling author and inspirational speaker & has been featured on Russia Today (RT), TRT World, Social Media Examiner, Bloomberg, Channel 5, Chicago Tribune, Daily Telegraph, City Wealth Magazine, Billionaire.com, Wealth X, Financial Times, El Financiero and many other Media offering insight on the aviation world. Fabrizio is also regularly featured as an Aviation Analyst on Russia Today (RT) and TRT World. Fabrizio is also aviation advisor & correspondent for Billionaire Chronicle Magazine Fabrizio is also considered one of the world's top 30 experts in using Linkedin for business. You can tune in weekly to Fabrizio's business Podcast Living Outside the Cube available both in video & audio. You can also follow Fabrizio's aviation videos on Biz Jet TV  Fabrizio is also a published author.