NASA Studied Air Taxi Noise—The Results May Surprise You

Space agency surveyed about 360 participants living in New York City, Los Angeles, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Jack Daleo

Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 02:31 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

NASA Langley researcher Sidd Krishnamurthy tests a remote platform developed to study human response to air taxi noise. [Credit: NASA/Ally Olney]

Key Takeaways:

NASA's VANGARD study found that people living in high background noise urban areas reported greater annoyance with electric air taxi sounds than those in low-noise regions, an unexpected finding.
The study's results are crucial for guiding Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) aircraft manufacturers in designing quieter vehicles and informing regulatory bodies like the FAA on setting noise certification standards.
This research provides essential data for regulators, urban planners, and local governments to establish operational procedures, route planning, and zoning for vertiports to mitigate the community impact of future air taxi noise.

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According to NASA, background noise impacts the way people react to the buzzing and whirring of electric air taxis—but not in the way you might think.

The space agency this month released the initial findings from its Varied Advanced Air Mobility Noise and Geographic Area Response Difference, or VANGARD, study. The research’s most notable conclusion is that people living in areas with high background noise (think urban centers such as New York City) tend to report more annoyance with the air taxis than those living in low-noise areas.