“Ten to the minus nine” is a way of expressing aircraft system reliability. It means that the theoretical likelihood of catastrophic failure is just one in a billion flight hours. Or, to look at it another way, the likelihood of catastrophic failure during a one-hour flight is 0.000000001. It’s the gold standard for certifying aircraft systems, the target of today’s eVTOL manufacturers, and what will help uphold aviation as the world’s safest mode of transport as we enter the era of Advanced Air Mobility.

To put it in perspective:

• The likelihood of being struck by lightning in the USA over a lifetime is one in 15,300 (65,000 times higher).1
• The likelihood of winning the National Lottery in the UK is one in 45 million (22 times higher).2

Ensuring that eVTOLs adhere to the same safety standards as other commercial aircraft is the bedrock of the AAM industry. However, it’s no small challenge for today’s conscientious, safety-driven eVTOL OEMs who are feeling the pressure on both time and capital. This is where manufacturers are employing an innovative approach to multiple redundancy, running independent critical systems in parallel so that the failure of one does not compromise the aircraft, allowing safe flight to continue.

Image credit: Vertical Aerospace

1 National Severe Storms Laboratory

2 The Health Lottery ELM Limited

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