AAM-12-126-E January 26, 2012

Exemption No. 10438 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2008-0942

Mr. Rodney Green Director of Operations Arizona Helicopter Adventures

235 Air Terminal Drive Sedona, Arizona 86336

Dear Mr. Green:

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 list conditions and limitations of the exemption, including the date it ends.

The Basis for Our Decision

By letter dated January 4, 2012, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Arizona Helicopter Adventures, LLC (AHA) for an exemption from part 121, appendices I and J of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent necessary to allow AHA to cover its safety-sensitive employees under one testing program. That exemption, however, expired on December 31, 2011; therefore, we will treat your request as a new petition.

Although you requested relief from part 121, appendices I and J, that section has since been redesignated to part 120. The redesignation was included in the “Drug and Alcohol Testing Program” final rule published in the Federal Register on May 12, 2009 (74 FR 22649).

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 AHA.2

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 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 Arizona Helicopter Adventures, LLC an exemption from 14 CFR part 120 to the extent necessary to allow AHA, 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 AHA 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 AHA part 135 operations, not under part 91.

This exemption terminates on February 28, 2014, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Sincerely,

/s/
James R. Fraser, M.D. Deputy Federal Air Surgeon

Enclosure