U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials have issued a final rule facilitating the safe development of civil supersonic aircraft.
The action serves as a significant step toward reintroducing civil supersonic flight and demonstrates a commitment to safe innovation.
The rule ensures companies developing the aircraft have clarity in understanding the process for gaining FAA approval to conduct flight testing, which officials maintain is a key step in bringing the products to market.
“The FAA supports the new development of supersonic aircraft as long as safety parameters are followed,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said. “The testing of supersonic aircraft at Mach 1 will only be conducted following consideration of any impact to the environment.”
The governmental entities noted the first activity is a proposed rule for noise certification of supersonic aircraft. The second is a proposed rule to streamline and clarify the procedures to obtain special flight authorization for conducting supersonic flight-testing domestically.
The final rule modifies the criteria for applying for authorizations and moves the material from an appendix to a regulation to make it easier to find and understand, officials said, noting outside the context of special flight authorizations under the final rule, the FAA generally continues to prohibit civil supersonic flight over land in the United States.