AAM-11-246-E 

April 8, 2011 

 Exemption No. 10237 

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2011-0339 

Ms. Stacey Riggs 

Agent for Service 

Alamo Helicopter Tours San Antonio, LLC 

8535 Mission Road, Suite 104 

San Antonio, TX 78214 

Dear Ms. Riggs: 

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your request for exemption. It transmits our 

decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and limitations of the exemption, 

including the date it ends. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

By letter dated March 25, 2011, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 

behalf of Alamo Helicopter Tours San Antonio, LLC (Alamo Helicopter Tours), for an 

exemption from part 120 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). That exemption, 

if granted, would allow Alamo Helicopter Tours, which is operating under separate parts of 

the regulations, to cover its safety-sensitive employees under one testing program. 

In your petition, you have requested that this exemption be classified as permanent. The 

FAA, however, finds it in the best interest of safety to review exemptions every 2 years. This 

allows us to ensure that there has been no change in circumstances or regulations from which 

the exemption is granted. 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any 

delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to Alamo Helicopter Tours. 

The FAA has issued a grant of exemption in circumstances similar in all material respects to 

those presented in your petition. In Grant of Exemption No. 9703 (copy enclosed), the FAA 

found that Solid Edge’s § 91.147 air tour operations were closely connected to its part 135 
2 

operations. The FAA also found that combining the petitioner’s two testing programs into 

one would be in the public interest and would maintain an equivalent level of safety to that 

provided by the current regulations. Thus, the FAA concluded it was unnecessary to burden 

the petitioner by requiring it to conduct two separate testing programs. 

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that— 

 they are similar in all material respects to relief previously requested in the enclosed Grant 

of Exemption No. 9703; 

 the reasons stated by the FAA for granting the enclosed Grant of Exemption No. 9703 

also apply to the situation you present; and 

 a grant of exemption is in the public interest. 

Our Decision 

Under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator 

has delegated to me, I hereby grant Alamo Helicopter Tours San Antonio, Inc., an exemption 

from part 120 to the extent necessary to allow Alamo Helicopter Tours, which is operating 

under separate parts of the regulations, to cover its safety-sensitive employees under one 

testing program, subject to the conditions and limitations described below. 

Conditions and Limitations 

1. Employees of Alamo Helicopter Tours are subject to the drug and alcohol 

regulations at all times while conducting operations under part 135 or part 91. 

2. The drug and alcohol testing program must be implemented under the auspices of 

the Alamo Helicopter Tours part 135 operation, not under part 91. 

This exemption terminates on April 30, 2013, unless sooner superseded or rescinded. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

Frederick E. Tilton, M.D. 

Federal Air Surgeon 

Enclosure