The FAA has successfully completed a critical systems review for Joby Aviation’s eVTOL, bringing the aircraft one step closer to achieving type certification, the California-based company announced today.

According to Joby, the FAA conducted an in-person, multi-day day audit of Joby’s eVTOL at the company’s facilities in Marina, California, to complete the second of four systems reviews required for its type certification program.

Joby’s first systems review concluded at the end of 2021 after the FAA assessed several aspects of the eVTOL aircraft, such as the flight controls, propulsion controls, and battery management. In March, Joby announced that it had submitted to the FAA its first “area-specific” certification plan, which detailed the materials, seats, and occupant restraints inside the aircraft.

These reviews, along with the area-specific certification plans and means of compliance, “serve to validate the overall architecture of the aircraft and ensure that the company’s development process is on track to satisfy the FAA’s safety objectives associated with complex aircraft systems,” Joby officials said in a statement.

"Progress on certification is a key area of focus for this nascent sector, and we're pleased to mark our continued leadership with the successful completion of our second system review,” said Didier Papadopoulos, Joby’s head of aircraft OEM. “We’re confident that our aircraft design is on track to meet the FAA’s expectations regarding system-level safety, redundancy, and overall aircraft architecture.”

Last month, the FAA provided some insight into how it will certify Joby’s eVTOL aircraft when it published the airworthiness criteria it is using to evaluate the company’s five-seat eVTOL aircraft, which is intended to carry four passengers plus one pilot on trips of up to 150 miles (240 kilometers) on a single charge. Joby aims to operate this aircraft under both the FAA’s commercial Part 135 rules and private Part 91 rules. The company has said it expects to achieve type certification in late 2024, in time to begin commercial air taxi operations by 2025.

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