[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 1, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11176-11177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4271]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 121

[Docket No. FAA-2011-0045]


Proposed Legal Interpretation

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

ACTION: Proposed interpretation.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is considering clarifying the application of flight 
time limitations and rest requirements in 14 CFR 121.481 and 121.483 
for pilots operating in flag operations as part of a two-pilot crew and 
as part of a two-pilot crew and one additional flightcrew member during 
a seven-day period.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 2, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments identified by Docket Number FAA-2011-
0045 using any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
follow the online instructions for sending your comments 
electronically.
    Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W12-140, West 
Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: Bring comments to Docket Operations in 
Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara Mikolop, Attorney, Regulations 
Division, Office of the Chief Counsel, Federal Aviation Administration, 
800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone: 202-267-
3073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA provides flight time and rest 
requirements for flightcrew members used in flag operations in 14 CFR 
subpart R. Within subpart R, Sec.  121.481 provides flight time 
limitations for one- or two-pilot crews and Sec.  121.483 provides 
flight time limitations for crews of two pilots and one additional 
flight crewmember.
    The flight time limitations are more restrictive for operations 
under Sec.  121.481 than Sec.  121.483 because the crew size is smaller 
and thus each pilot must assume responsibilities for more in-flight 
duties. See Legal Interpretation from Donald P. Byrne to James W. 
Johnson (August 24, 1999). In contrast, when a crew of two pilots and 
one additional flightcrew member operates under Sec.  121.483, the in-
flight duties are divided among more crewmembers and so the overall 
burden on any one crewmember may be reduced as crewmembers rotate 
through flight deck duties and may be provided an opportunity for rest. 
See Legal Interpretation from Donald P. Byrne to James W. Johnson 
(August 24, 1999). Thus, when the number of flightcrew members used in 
a flag operation increases, Subpart R allows for increased flight time. 
Compare 14 CFR 121.481 with 14 CFR 121.483 and 14 CFR 121.485.

[[Page 11177]]

    On July 15, 2010, the FAA received a request for a legal 
interpretation regarding how to apply flight time limitations and rest 
requirements for pilots engaged in flag operations when those pilots 
participate in varying sizes of flightcrews during a seven-day period. 
Specifically, a pilot labor organization requested a legal 
interpretation regarding the application 14 CFR 121.481(d), limiting a 
two-pilot crew to 32 hours of flight time within any seven consecutive 
days, when that same crew is augmented with an additional pilot during 
or after the completion of 32 hours of flight time within a seven-day 
period. We have not previously addressed these questions.
    We do not require an air carrier to use a pilot for just one 
flightcrew complement in flag operations. Air carriers engaged in flag 
operations are permitted to use the same pilot as part of a crew of two 
pilots, a crew of two pilots and one additional flightcrew member, or a 
crew of three pilots and one additional flightcrew member. This 
flexibility allows certificate holders who use multiple flightcrew 
complements throughout their operations to use flightcrew members 
interchangeably.
    The FAA's rules have a long history of acknowledging that pilots 
may be used in flightcrews of varying sizes, in that Sec.  121.487 
provides a framework for calculating monthly and quarterly flight time 
limitations for such pilots. In an early version of the current 
requirement, Special Civil Air Regulation No. 386F, it was envisioned 
that this rule would ``not allow evasion of the stricter limitations 
applicable to smaller crew combinations, but will allow assignment of a 
pilot in any given month to another type of crew combination without 
additional flight time limitations if he flies not more than 20 hours 
in the type of crew to which the more restrictive flight time 
limitations apply and if such assignment is not interrupted more than 
once during such month.'' See 28 Fed. Reg. 2000, 2000 (1963). Although 
Sec.  121.487 provides a structure for calculating monthly and 
quarterly flight time limitations for pilots used in varying sizes of 
flightcrews, neither the current Sec.  121.487 nor the regulatory 
history answer the question of how to apply daily and weekly flight 
time limitations for these same pilots.
    We did not intend, however, for this flexibility to be used by a 
certificate holder to select less restrictive flight time limitations 
for a flightcrew by augmenting that flightcrew midway or at the 
completion of a scheduling period. For example, the flight time limits 
of 14 CFR 121.481(d) would be circumvented if a certificate holder 
schedules a two-pilot crew for a series of operations and then augments 
that two-pilot flightcrew during or at the completion of a 32 hours of 
flight time within any seven-day period, for the purposes of extending 
the flightcrew's flight time under the less restrictive framework of 
Sec.  121.483.
    Although we have not clarified the effects of augmenting a two-
pilot flightcrew within a seven-day period, in a Legal Interpretation 
issued August 24, 1999, we examined the application of Sec. Sec.  
121.481 and 121.483 when a two-pilot flightcrew is augmented so as to 
extend the duty times for the original two-pilot flightcrew members 
within a 24-hour period. See Legal Interpretation from Donald P. Byrne 
to James W. Johnson (August 24, 1999). As previously stated, Sec.  
121.481 applies when a certificate holder conducts flag operations with 
a one- or two-pilot crew. When a certificate holder conducts flag 
operations with a two-pilot crew with one additional flightcrew member, 
Sec.  121.483 applies. However, in an August 24, 1999 Legal 
Interpretation, we stated that once an air carrier conducting flag 
operations schedules a pilot to fly under Sec.  121.481 and the pilot 
completes the flight time, it would be contrary to the intent of Sec.  
121.481 to then schedule that pilot to fly under Sec.  121.483 without 
providing the rest required within a 24-hour period as required by 
Sec. Sec.  121.481(a) or (b). See Legal Interpretation from Donald P. 
Byrne to James W. Johnson (August 24, 1999) (stating that the 
regulations prohibit augmenting a two-pilot crew after completing a 55 
minute flight, subject to Sec.  121.481, so that those two pilots may 
then continue on to operate a 9 hour and 50 minute flight subject to 
Sec.  121.483(b) without providing the rest required by Sec.  
121.481(a) or (b)). The August 24, 1999, Legal Interpretation ensures 
that pilots who have operated as part of a two-pilot crew receive the 
rest intended by 14 CFR 121.481(a) and (b).
    Finally, our knowledge regarding the causes and effects of fatigue 
has significantly increased since the regulations on flight time 
limitations were drafted. We now know that the longer one has been 
awake and the longer one spends on task, the greater the likelihood of 
fatigue. We also know more about transient and cumulative fatigue. 
Transient fatigue and cumulative fatigue are conditions brought on by 
sleep restriction that occurs over one or two days or a series of days 
respectively, thus making the daily and weekly flight time limitations 
and rest requirements a significant safeguard to ensure adequately 
rested pilots.
    Therefore, similar to the principle articulated in the August 24, 
1999 legal interpretation and considering what we now know about 
fatigue, to fulfill the intended rest requirements of Sec.  121.481(d), 
the FAA has tentatively determined that once a flightcrew has completed 
32 hours of flight time under 14 CFR 121.481(d), that flightcrew must 
be provided the rest required by Sec.  121.481(d) before being 
scheduled under Sec.  121.483. Further, should an air carrier engaged 
in flag operations use two pilots in both a two-pilot flightcrew and a 
flightcrew of two pilots and one additional flightcrew member, within 
any seven consecutive days, then the flight time limitations and rest 
requirements of Sec.  121.481(d) would apply to the two pilots who have 
moved between crew complements.\1\
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    \1\ Sec.  121.483 does not contain a provision that is parallel 
to Sec.  121.481(d). Nevertheless, the flight time limits for 48 and 
72 hour periods found in Sec.  121.483(b) are less restrictive than 
the flight time limitations in Sec.  121.481(d).
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    This clarification would fulfill the intent that pilots serving in 
two-pilot crews in flag operations are afforded the rest contemplated 
by Sec.  121.481.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 22, 2011.
Rebecca B. MacPherson,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations, AGC-200.
[FR Doc. 2011-4271 Filed 2-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P