2800 N. 44th St. Ste. 800 Phoenix, AZ 85008 602-224-3500 602-224-1689

Description of Requested Relief

This is a petition to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pursuant to 14 CFR Section 11.61 for an 

exemption from 14 CFR Section 135.611(b), as that section has been recently interpreted by the FAA’s 

Flight Standards Service in internal guidance to Principal Operations Inspectors. PHI Air Medical is 

seeking immediate relief to the extent necessary to allow PHI Air Medical to resume performing 

instrument flight rules (IFR) departures and approach procedures (IAP) at airports and or heliports that 

do not have an approved weather reporting source without airborne radar or lightning strike detection 

equipment installed in its helicopters with a passenger seating configuration of 9 seats or less (excluding 

any pilot seat). Consistent with PHI Air Medical Operations Specifications and its operational practice for 

several years before that interpretation, the requested exemption, if granted, will be limited as follows:

A. The exemption would apply to operations of PHI Air Medical helicopters with a passenger seating 

configuration of 9 seats or less (excluding any pilot seat), listed in our Operations Specifications when -

1. Current weather reports or forecasts indicate that there is no reasonable possibility of 

thunderstorms or other severe weather expected to exist at the destination, alternate or along the 

route to be flown for the period of time planned for the flight; and2. Additional preflight planning is triggered by the PHI Air Medical Preflight Risk Assessment Program 

which must be completed before the first leg of each Helicopter Air Ambulance Operation (HAAO), 

conducted under Section 135.611.

B. For a flight to be conducted under Section 135.611, the weather briefing, flight monitoring and 

related training actions described below must be taken. These actions are described in the PHI Air 

Medical General Operations Manual and Approved Training Programs.

1. Weather Briefing Requirements for Flights under Section 135.611

• The pilot will use information obtained from the National Weather Service to determine that 

there is no reasonable possibility of thunderstorms or other severe weather conditions expected 

to exist at the destination, alternate or along the route to be flown for the period of time 

planned for the flight;

• The following aviation weather products must be reviewed in making that determination; 

AIRMET, SIGMET, CONVECTIVE SIGMET, METAR, REGIONAL NEXRAD, NOTAM, PIREP, and TAF; 

and-

• No IFR operation under Section 135.611 will be conducted if current weather reports or 

forecasts indicate the potential for thunderstorms or other severe weather to exist at the 

destination, alternate or along the route to be flown for the period of time planned for the 

flight. If such potential exists, the pilot must refuse the flight.
2800 N. 44th St. Ste. 800 Phoenix, AZ 85008 602-224-3500 602-224-1689

2. Flight monitoring by the Operations Control Center

Once the flight becomes active, the PHI Air Medical Operations Control Center (EOC) uses specialized 

software, the EOC automatically monitors the flight plan, current position and destination of all active 

flights. The EOC system automatically alerts the Operations Control Specialist, by text and with visual 

alerts on the EOC display, when there are thunderstorms or severe weather within 30 NM of an aircraft 

or a point on the route of flight.

The PHI Air Medical Operations Control Center continuously monitors all flights for thunderstorms and 

severe weather and provides that information to the pilot by:

• Relay through the Communications Center to the pilot;

• Contacting the pilot directly over our internet based voice communications system; or

• Contacting the pilot directly via satellite.

-The Operations Control Center provides general advice such as, “there are thunderstorms to your west

-- recommend you divert to the east.”

3. Training for our pilots and operations control specialists will be completed on an annual basis and 

includes:

a. IFR Flight Planning (4.0 hours)

b. Use and interpretation of NWS weather charts (2.0 hours)

c. Interpretation of live radar feeds (2.0 hours)

d. SIGMETS and AIRMETS (2.0 hours)

e. METARS and TAFS’s (2.0 hours)

f. Interpretation and appropriate use of available cockpit weather displays (2.0 hours)

g. The applicability and use of this exemption (1.0 hours)

Granting the Requested Exemption would Enhance Safety and is in the Public Interest

PHI Air Medical maintains that it is in the public interest to utilize the IFR infrastructure to the fullest 

extent possible thereby avoiding the potential for controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents caused 

by pilots trying to remain VFR when the weather is marginal. The public interest also will be served by 

increasing the opportunity for additional access to critical care patient flights.
2800 N. 44th St. Ste. 800 Phoenix, AZ 85008 602-224-3500 602-224-1689

PHI Air Medical believes that, by granting this petition, the FAA will permit an alternate means of 

compliance that is an equivalent level of safety as provided by Section 135.611(b) to be maintained and 

will be acting in a manner consistent with the aviation safety goal of Section 135.611. PHI Air Medical 

believes that the true mitigation of the risk of operations in areas of severe weather lies in effective and 

consistent preflight planning and training for its pilots and operational control oversight by the 

certificate holder. If this exemption is not granted it would negatively affect the public interest by 

reducing the number of available HAA flights. A fully trained crew, following proper IFR procedures, in a 

properly equipped aircraft, can only enhance safety.

The underlying purpose of Section 135.611 is to facilitate IFR operations by helicopter air ambulance 

operators and result in more aircraft operating in a positively controlled environment, thereby 

increasing safety. The recent interpretation of the rule instead has the unintended consequence of 

encouraging HAA operators to fly in marginal weather conditions under VFR because the interpretation 

requires Airborne Weather Radar or Lightning Detection Equipment. 

PHI Air Medical is committed to the safe and successful completion of its air medical flights and believes 

that it is safer to file an IFR flight plan and to operate under IFR than to conduct flight operations under 

VFR in marginal visual meteorological conditions (VMC). PHI Air Medical believes that operating in 

marginal VMC weather conditions has been the single most frequent causal factor in EMS aircraft 

accidents.

PHI Air Medical further believes that the proposed exemption is in keeping with the safety purpose of 

the rule by permitting HAA operators the ability to operate in accordance with IFR more often. This 

would minimize the need for marginal VFR flight operations. 

Granting the proposed exemption in regard to Section 135.611(b), as interpreted, would not promote 

flights into severe weather, because PHI Air Medical does not conduct IFR operations in severe weather 

conditions. 

Further Justifying Information

PHI Air Medical is one of the largest HAA operators in the country and has over 35 years of HAA 

experience. PHI Air Medical corporate headquarters are located in Phoenix, AZ. PHI Air Medical has 

more than 70 bases of operations providing air medical transport and critical patient services. We 

operate both fixed and rotor wing aircraft. 

For many years PHI Air Medical/PHI. INC has safely conducted IFR approaches into and out of airports 

and heliports using FAA approved non-part 97 IAP’s at locations that do not have weather reporting. 

Since 2009 these procedures were approved under an authorization in Operations Specifications A021 

and did not require severe weather detection equipment. During the rewrite of part 135, the 

authorization in A021 was correctly removed from the Operations Specifications and placed in what 
2800 N. 44th St. Ste. 800 Phoenix, AZ 85008 602-224-3500 602-224-1689

became Section 135.611 in the final HAA rule. In Section 135.611 (b) there is a requirement for “severe 

weather detection equipment” with no specific definition of what that term means. 

PHI Air Medical conducted 10,200 hours in the years 2011 through 2014.

The success rate for these operations rests upon two very important items – (1) the thorough and 

effective training of pilots on preflight planning and IFR procedures and (2) the complete avoidance of 

flying in reported or forecast severe weather.

Summary.

In summary, immediate granting of the requested relief will enhance aviation safety and be in the public 

interest. Each day that passes without relief from the recent interpretation of Section 135.611(b) 

prevents safe IFR operations and unnecessarily restricts public access to air medical transportation. We 

appreciate your positive and expeditious consideration of our request for this relief.

Respectfully submitted,

Kevin P.McCord

Chief Pilot

Phi Air Medical,L.L.C.

602-224-3518 (o)

337-781-5923 (c)

Summary of Petition for Publication

PHI Air Medical seeks an exemption from Section 135.611(b) of Title 14 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, as that section has been recently interpreted by the FAA’s Flight Standards Service in 

internal guidance to Principal Operations Inspectors. PHI Air Medical is seeking relief to the extent 

necessary to allow PHI Air Medical to resume performing instrument flight rules (IFR) departures and to 

perform IFR instrument approach procedures (IAP) at airports and or heliports that do not have an 

approved weather reporting source without airborne radar or lightning strike detection equipment 

installed in its helicopters with a passenger seating configuration of 9 seats or less (excluding any pilot 

seat), with limitations consistent with the company’s past operating practices.