Page 1 of 3

August 9 , 2011

Docket Management Facility

U

. S

. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE West Building Ground Floor

Room W12

- 140 Washington, DC 20590

Submitted via Federal Docket Management System (FDMS)

Dear Sir or M adam:

Jet Charter, Inc., holder of FAA Air Carrier Certificate Number LBWA011G, is requesting an exemption from the requirements of 14 CFR 135.225(f) relating to IFR: Takeoff, Approach and Landing Minimums at foreign and military airports. The primary contact in this matter is:

Michael P. McCullough Assistant Director of Operations Jet Charter, Inc. 169 Ramapo Valley Road Oakland, NJ 07436

Phone: ( 201 ) 485

- 7875 Fax: (201) 485

- 7879

E

- mail: mike@armcharter.com

PETITION FOR EXEMPTION

This Petition for Exemption (“Petition”) is submitted in accordance with 14 CFR 11 and seeks permanent
relief from certain rules issued by the Federal Aviation Administration governing IFR takeoffs when the visibility is less than 1 statute mile and governing approaches when the vis i bility is less than 1⁄2 mile at foreign and military airports.

SCOPE

This petition request applies to all multiengine

, turb ine

- powered airplanes operated by Jet Charter, Inc . in

accordance with 14 CFR 135 (Part 135) and the applicable Operations Specifications.Page 2 of 3

SPECIFIC RELIEF REQUEST

Jet Charter, Inc. is petitioning for an exemption to 14 CFR 135.225(f) which currently contains the following language:

Each pilot making an IFR takeoff or approach and landing at a military or foreign airport shall comply with applicable instrument approach procedures and weather minimums prescribed by the authority having jurisdiction over that airport. In addition, no pi lot may, at that airport

— (1) Take off under IFR when the vis ibility is less than 1 mile; or (2) Make an instrument approach when the visibility is less than 1/2 mile.

By means of Notice N8900.38, dated April 18, 20 08 the FA A removed the authorization prev iously contained in Operations Specification paragraph C079 t hat allowed lower than standard takeoffs at foreign and military airports. Although no mention is made in N8900.38 of a conflict with 135.225 (f) (formerly 135.225(e)), this notice changed th e header of Operations Specificati o n C079 to read “US Civil Airports” for Part 135 Operations only, while allowing the header to retain the words “All Airports” for Part 121 and Part 91 Subpart K Operations.

The analogous rule in Part 121.651(f) was revised in 1981 and incorporated the following language:

§121.651(f): Unless otherwise authorized in the certificate holders operations specifications , each pilot making an IFR takeoff, approach, or landing at a foreign airpo rt shall comply with the applicable instrument approach procedures and weather minimums prescribed by the authority having jurisdiction over the airport. (Bold added by the petitioner.)

The preamble to that rule change contained the following comment:

Foreign Airports Finally, a new 121.651(f) is added to require a pilot making an IFR takeoff, approach, or landing at a foreign airport to comply with the applicable instrument approach procedures and weather minimums prescribed by the authority having jurisdiction over the airport, unless otherwise authorized in the certificate holders operations specifications. This ensures that U.S. operators comply with appropriate foreign government regulations when conducting international operations. No specific c omments were received on this section and it is adopted as proposed.

The visibility restrictions contained in 135.225(f) do not appear to be supported by any rec ognizable safety argument and it is not be easily determine d wh y the decision was made to inc lude t his limitation. It seems safer and far more prudent for the certificate holder to abide by the regul a tions applicable to the country and airport at which they are operating. Therefore, we believe J et Charter, I nc. s hould be granted

the same level of rel i e f as Part 121 and Part 91K operators.

PUBLIC INTEREST

The current regulation results in flight delays that impact the public wh ile engaging in foreign airp ort operations. This is particularly critical in the Eur op ean environment where departure re servations are the norm. In addition to passenger inconvenience and expense, such delays cause loss of revenue to the operator and create an economic disadvantage to operators who do not receive an exemption from this regulation.Page 3 of 3

EQUIVILANT SAFETY

Jet Charter, Inc. FAA Air Carrier Certificate LBWA011G is currently authorized to conduct takeoffs in weather minimums below Category I takeoff minimums for 14 CFR 135 airplane operations ( FAA Operations Specifications C079, Table 1) down to 500 feet Runwa y Visual Range. In addition, Transport

Canada ha s also issued Operations Specifications to Jet Charter, Inc. allowing T akeoff Minima to 600 feet Runway Visual Range (Canadian Operations Specification No. 085)

.

All crewmembers are trained and evaluated in accordance with the FAA

- approved Jet Charter, Inc. Part

135 Training Program. The Lower than Standard Takeoff Minimums (500 RVR) training event is

conducte d in Initial New Hire, Upgrade, and Recurrent Curriculum Segments for all turbine

- powered

aircraft

.

The majority of instrument approaches outside the United States have been designed in compliance with ICAO Procedures for Air Navigation Services

- Aircraft Operations (PAN

- OPS). This international standard is equivalent to the United States Terminal Instr ument Procedures (TERPS) and 14 CFR 139 specifications.

Jet Charter, Inc. operates multiple large turbine

- powered aircraf t and is regularly audited by Wyvern, Executive Jet Management, and other large corporate flight departments. In addition, Jet Charter, Inc. has

an IS

- BAO compliant Safety Manag e m ent System (SMS) and always assigns two type

- rated pilots to each flight operation. Therefore, g ranting the requested relief to J et Charter, Inc. will not cause any degradation in the safety of operations

.

FEDERAL REGISTER PUBLICATION

Jet Charter , Inc. requests a waiver of the 120

- day filing requirements and the publishing of a summary of the Petition on the Federal Register. Any delay in granting of this exemption request will needlessly

encumber FAA resources and result in additional d e l a y s for relief that has alread y been granted to other

Part 121 and 135 certificate holders.

Please contact me if further information regarding this request is required.

Respectfully

,

Michael P. McCullough

Assist ant Director of Operations Jet Charter, Inc.