U.S. Department of Transportation FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION



# REGULATORY EVALUATION

Air Ambulance and Commercial Helicopter Operations, Part 91 Helicopter Operations, and Pa rt 135 Aircraft Operations; Safety Initiatives and Miscellaneous Amendments

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

(14 CFR PARTS 1, 91, 120, AND 135)

Office of Aviation Policy and Plans Operations Regulatory Analysis Branch, APO-310 April 1, 2010TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section Page No. Executive Summary ................................................................................................. i

I. Benefits ................................................................................................................... 1 A. Overview........................................................................................................... 1 B. Accident History ............................................................................................... 1 C. Monte Carlo Simulation .................................................................................... 2 C.1. Assumptions............................................................................................. 3 C.2. Simulation Model..................................................................................... 5 C.3. Results ...................................................................................................... 7

II. Costs...................................................................................................................... .. 8 A. Helicopter Air Ambulance Operations ........................................................... 10 A.1.a. Medical Personnel ............................................................................... 10 A.1.b. Operations Control Center (OCC) ...................................................... 10 A.1.c. Operational Requirements................................................................... 13 A.1.d. Risk Analysis ...................................................................................... 15 A.1.e. Safety Training.................................................................................... 16 A.2.a. Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (HTAWS)....... 21 A.2.b. Light -weight aircraft record ing system (LARS)................................. 22 A.3.a. Pilots with Instrument Rating.............................................................. 23 A.3.b. Flight and Duty Time.......................................................................... 24 B. Commercial Helicopter (Including Air Ambulance) Operations.................... 24 B.1.a. IFR Alternate Weather ........................................................................ 24 B.2.a. Radio Altimeter ................................................................................... 25 B.2.b. Over water........................................................................................... 26 B.3. Competency in Inst rument Meteorological Conditions (IMC).............. 28 C.1. Part 91 Weather...................................................................................... 29 C.2. Load Manifest ........................................................................................ 30 III. Comparison of Benefits and Costs........................................................................ 32 IV. Appendix A – Accident History ........................................................................... 33 V. Appendix B – Selected Distributions and their Best-Fitting Parameters.............. 39EXE CUTIVE SUMMARY

The FAA is proposing to amend the regulations that pertain to helicopter air ambulance operations to implement operational procedures , provide for additiona l flight crew and medical personnel, and require additional equi pment on board helicopter air ambulances. In addition, the FAA would amend regulations pertaining to all co mmercial aircraft operations conducted under part 135 to include equipment requirements, pilot training,

and alternate weather minimums.

The estimated mean benefit value for the air am bulance provisions would be $270 million or $160 million present value over ten years. The estimated mean benefit value for the commercial provisions would be $193 million or $115 million present value over ten years. The FAA estimates the cost of this proposed rule for the air ambulance provisions would be approximately $210 m illion ($136 million, present value) over 10 years. The estimated cost of the proposed rule for the commercial provisions would be approximately $145 million ($89 million, present value) over 10 years.

iI. Benefits

A. Overview Benefits would accrue from amending the regulations that pertain to helicopter air ambulance operations to implement operational procedures, provide for additional requirements pertaining to fli ght crew testing and medical personnel briefing, and require additional equipment on board helicopter ai r ambulances. The estimated mean benefit value for these benefits would be $270 m illion or $160 million present value over ten

years.

In addition, the FAA would amend regulations pertaining to all co mmercial aircraft operations conducted under part 135 to include equipment requirements, pilot training,

and alternate weather minimums. The estima ted mean benefit value for these benefits would be $193 million or $115 million pres ent value over ten years.

B. Accident History FAA’s Office of Accident Investigation, AAI-220, 1 provided 173 historical air ambulance accidents and 1,048 controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents occurring from 1983 through 2009. Of those accidents, FAA’s Flight Standards Service, AFS-250 2 identified 75 commercial helicopte r accidents from 1994 through 2008 and 135 helicopter air ambulance accidents from 1992 th rough 2009 with causal factors that are addressed in this proposal. In the Monte-Carlo Simulation, wh ich is addressed in the next section, we used data from 1994 to 2008 for the helicopter air am bulance accidents and

1 Joe Mooney and Brad Wacker, Program Analysts, Safety Analysis Branch. 2 Edwin D. Miller, Part 135 On-Demand Branch- Aviation Safety Inspector. Other credentials: Air Force Accident Investigator, Helicopter Expert, an d State of Florida Law Enforcement Officer.

1the comm ercial helicopter accidents. A FS-250 reviewed each of the accidents and provided an effectiveness measure along with the proposed section in the NPRM rule language that would address each accident.

For the accidents involving commercial helicopter operations, 28 (about 37%) involved one or more fatalities and 47 (about 63%) had no fatalities. These acc idents resulted in 88 fatalities, 29 serious injuries, and 42 minor injuries. For the accidents involving air ambulance operations, 50 (about 37%) involved one or more fatalities, and 85 (about 63%) had no fatalities. These accidents resulted in 134 fatalities, 57 serious injuries, and 45 minor injuries.

In addition to the injuries and fatalities, th ere was also significant damage or complete hull loss for these accidents. Appendix A provides the accident da te, location, number of casualties, provisions, casualty costs, and rule effectiveness 3 for commercial helicopter

and air ambulance accidents.

C. Monte Carlo Simulation The possibility of similar accidents over 10 years can be estimated by performing MonteCarlo simulation. 4 We performed one simulation for air ambulance accidents and

another one for commercial accidents. The assumptions that follow were used

simulations: in both

3 The effectiveness measure assesses how effective th e proposed rule might have been in averting the accident at the time of the accident. 4 A Monte Carlo simulation randomly generates values for uncertain variables over and over to simulate a model, which is meant to imitate a real-life system.

2C1. Assum ptions

 The rule is expected to take effect in 2012. The time horizon for these potential benefits is 10 years, 2012 through 2021.

 All monetary values were expressed in constant 2009 dollars. The present value of the potential benefit stream was calcu lated by discounting the monetary values using a 7 percent interest rate from 2012 to 2021.

 In the simulation, the value of a statis tical life (VSL) was computed using a lognormal distribution with a mean of $6 million and a standard deviation of $2.6

million. 5

 The value of a serious injury was $521,000.

 The value of a minor injury was $12,000.

 The estimate for averting aircraft dama ge was $1.7 million per event, representing a blended replacement value of aircraft pot entially affected by this proposal. The FAA uses the average value for the unit replacement and restoration cost of an aircraft to approximate the value of an airplane with substantial damage and we conservatively assume there would be no collateral damage.

5 U.S. Department of Transportation Memorandum, Treat ment of the Economic Value of a Statistical Life in Department Analyses, dated February 5, 2008, p 7.

3 Under the proposal, certificate holders woul d have three years from the effective date of the final rule to comply with e quipment requirements. To account for the compliance period, we adjusted our be nefit estimate accordingly. To be conservative, we assumed that 1/3 of th e benefits would be realized in 2012 because only 33% of the affected entit ies would be in compliance during 2012. Also, we assumed that 2/3 of the affected entities would come into compliance in 2013 and full compliance would begin in 2014.

 We assume an effectiveness measure of 59% for air ambulance accidents and

50% for commercial accidents. Table 2 illustrates how these measures were

calculated.

Once we identified all appropriate accidents in the two categories of operations,

we evaluated each event in terms of eff ectiveness had the requirements in the proposed rule been in effect before the accident took place. Based on the analysis of causes and factors, we assigned the following:

 Low effectiveness (0-33%)--16.5% median estimate--where the requirements would prevent 16.5% of the forecasted accidents.

4 Medium effectiveness (34-67%)--5 0.5% median estimate--where the requirements would prevent 50.5% of the forecasted accidents.

 High effectiveness (68-100%)--84% medi an estimate--where the requirements would prevent 84% of the forecasted accidents.

Once the values were assigned in order to estimate the effectiveness of the entire proposed rule, we calculated the weighted average for the 2 categories. These numbers were then applied as overall effectiveness numbers to the total potential benefits for each category.

C.2 Simulation Model To develop a model for the air ambulance and the commercial simulations, first we

selected distributions that best described th e characteristics of the accident history from

1994 to 2008. 6 We only considered the most recent history because it is the most relevant to the type of a ccident that might occur in the absence of the rule.

We fitted distributions to number of fata l accidents, number of nonfatal accidents, casualty costs for fatal accidents and casualty costs for nonfatal accidents. We did this

for both the air ambulance and the commercial operators. A mathematical fit was performed to determine the set of parameters for each distribution that best described the characteristics of the particular data set. The distributions with the highest ranking fit were chosen to represent each particular da ta set (e.g., an exponential distribution was chosen to represent fatal accidents for ai r ambulance operators). In ranking the

6 We did not consider 2009 because we do not have all of the accident data yet.

5distributions we used the Chi-square goodness-of-fit test. 7 The selected distributions and their corresponding parameters for air am bulance operators are shown in table B1 (Appendix B) and those for comm ercial operators are shown in table B2. Using these distributions, the average cost for averti ng aircraft damage, and the effectiveness measures, we developed a model for the air ambulance and the commercial simulations. The relationships of the model ma y be summarized as follows:

EDNFTL FTL CNFTL CFTL Benefits NFTL FTL       )]) (() () [(

where:

FTL = number of fatal accidents; NFTL = number of nonfatal accidents;

C FTL = casualty cost for fatal accidents;

C NFTL = casualty cost for nonfatal accidents; D = damage cost;

E = effectiveness measure.

The simulations first forecast the number of fatal and nonfatal accidents which are multiplied by their corresponding casualty cost s. Next, the simulations calculate the damage to aircraft by multiplying the number of fatal and nonfatal accidents by the damage cost. Finally, the total cost (which includes casualty cost and damage cost) is

7 This test is the oldest and most common of the goo dness-of-fit tests. It gauges the general accuracy of the fit.

6multiplied b y an effectiveness measure, which produces the benefits for air ambulance and commercial operators.

C3. Results The results of the air ambulance simulation are displayed in the next histogram.

The proposed air ambulance provisions are expe cted to produce safety benefits of $104 million to $2.6 billion ($62 million to $1.5 billi on, present value) over ten years, with an estimated mean benefit value of $270 m illion or $160 million present value.

The results of the commercial simulation are displayed in the next histogram.

7The commercial provisions are expected to produce safety benefits of $39 million to $838 million ($21 million to $480 million, present value) over ten years, with an estimated mean benefit value of $193 million or $115 million present value.

II. Costs From 2012 to 2021, the cost to helicopt er air ambulance operators would be approximately $210 million ($136 million, present value) and the costs to commercial helicopter operators would be approximatel y $145 million ($89 million, present value) as

shown in Table 3.

8General Cost Assumptions

 Monetary values are expressed in 2009 dollars, unless noted otherwise.

 Discount rate applied is 7 percent as suggested by th e Office of Management and Budget.

 We use the following costs per hour as the burdened wage rates for this evaluation.

9The societal costs in clude the overhead costs that are allocated to labor as well as the

direct cost. The basis for the labor rates are from the 2008 data on the mean burdened hourly labor rates for specific categories of staffing data for air medical aircraft. We incorporate figures as repor ted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to aid in determining the incremental cost impact that could result from this proposal. We use the mean hourly wage rates from BLS, as they are the most suitable and representative number across a ll of the industry. Once the wa ge rates are established, to assess the incremental cost to society, we burden the mean wages with fringe

benefits and overhead to calculate the actual employer costs of employee compensation.

A. Helicopter Air Ambulance Operations

A.1.a. Medical Personnel The FAA is proposing to require that a ll helicopter air ambul ance operations with medical personnel on board be c onducted under part 135 instead of part 91. These more stringent requirements may result in operato rs turning down flights that would meet only part 91 requirements, for example if weat her conditions do not meet the part 135 requirements, or if the flight would put a flightcrew member over the maximum daily hours of flight time. The FAA does not have enough information to quantify the impact of this requirement and calls for comments from affected entities, including the extent of the impact on the availability of air ambul ance services. The FAA requests that all comments be accompanied by clear and deta iled supporting economic documentation.

A.1.b. OCC

10The FAA is proposing to add a requirem ent for certificate holders with 10 or more helicopters engaged in helicopte r air ambulance operations to have an Operations Control Center (OCC). These OCC’s would be staffe d by operations control specialists trained and equipped to communicate with pilots, advise pilots of weather conditions, and monitor the progress of flights.

Certificate holders would be responsible for establishing and implementing an FAAapproved initial and recu rrent training program for operatio ns control specialists. We estimate 288 operations control specialists 8 would be required to receive 80 hours of initial training and to pass a 2 hour practical examination. Additionally, the operations control specialists would need to complete 40 hours of recurrent training and pass a 1

hour examination. 24 hours 9 per year would be needed for a clerical person to maintain records of their training and examinations. We estimate that approximately 96 chief pilots 10 would be needed to administer the tr aining and exams. The operations control specialist’s loaded salary expr essed as an hourly wage rate is assumed to be $30 per hour; the chief pilot’s hourly rate with benefits is assumed to be $53 pe r hour; and a clerical person’s hourly rate with benefits is assume d to be $26 per hour. The FAA estimates that the total cost of the training would be a bout $6 million or $4 million present value, as

shown in Table 5.

8 90 operations control specialists positions x 3.2 specialists per position (includes annual and sick leave) = 288 specialists. 9 288 operations control specialists x 5/60 hours. 10 We assume one chief pilot is assigned to a group of 3 operations control specialists. 288 operations control specialists / 3 = 96 chief pilots.

11Besides the training, the FAA estimates that this proposed provisi on would require hiring 144 new permanent operations control specialists. 11 We assume their hourly rate with benefits at $30 per hour and they would be compensated 2080 hours per year. The total cost over 10 years for these permanent posit ions would be $90 million. Additionally, we believe that 288 new computers an d televisions would be needed in the first year at a cost of approximately $2,000 per television and $2,000 per computer for a total cost of $1 million. Finally, five percent of operations control specialists would be tested at random for drugs and alcohol on an annual basis fo r approximately 30 minutes at a cost of $65 per test for a total cost of about $12,000 over 10 years. The FAA believes the cost for a clerical person to maintain drug and alcohol testing records would be negligible. Therefore, the FAA estimates the sum of all these costs at about $91 million or $56 million present value, as shown in Table 6.

11 (90 operations control specialists positions x 3.2 specialists per position) / 2 = 144 new operations control specialists

12A.1.c. Operational Requirements Increase VFR weather minimums (§135.607) This provision would require helicopter air ambulance operations to comply with more stringent VFR weather minimums in unc ontrolled airspace than those currently established in part 135. This requirement in creases the safety marg in and has a minimal cost impact because it utilizes existing infr astructure and implements requirements of Operations Specification A021.

Allow IFR operations at ai rports and heliports without weather reporting (§135.609) The FAA is proposing to allow helicopter air ambulance operators to conduct IFR operations in certain circumstances at airpor ts or heliports without a weather reporting facility. Currently, the regulations permit only IFR operations into and out of airports with an on-site weather reporting source. Th is requirement would in crease the use of IFR flight by helicopter air ambul ance operators which would result in more aircraft operating

13in a positively controlled environm ent and with in the existing infrastructure. As such, we estimate that this requirement woul d result in no additional costs.

Specify procedures for VFR/visual transi tions from instrum ent approaches (§135.611) The FAA is proposing to allow a helicopter ai r ambulance pilot to fl y IFR to a point in space (PinS) within 3 nautical miles of the f light’s destination, at which the pilot would be able to continue an approach to a heliport or landing ar ea under VFR conditions, weather permitting.

The requirement would benefit pilots by enabling them to access more destinations by flying within the IFR structure, and then continuing VFR along approaches that have been flight checked for obstacles by the FAA. We estimate no additional costs associated with this requirement.

Require additional VFR flight planning (§135.613) This provision is intended to prevent obstacle co llisions by requiring pilo ts to be aware of the terrain and highest obstacle s along a planned route. Th e FAA is proposing to require helicopter air ambulance pilots to perform pr eflight planning to determine the minimum safe altitude along the planned en route phase of flight when c onducting VFR operations. Pilots would be required to evaluate, documen t, and plan to clear terrain and obstacles along the planned route of flight by no less th an 300 feet for day operations, or 500 feet for night operations.

14The proposed requirem ent could require pilots to look at a sectional map, plan their course, and determine specific altitudes whic h could be completed in conjunction with the proposed risk assessment. The flight planni ng would be required prior to take-off for all helicopter air ambulance opera tors and is estimated to take an additional 5 minutes. With an hourly pilot cost of $48, the cost for 5 minutes of planning would be an additional $4.00 per operation. To calculat e the annual cost of $1,451,852, we multiply

the estimated additional cost ($4.00) by the number of affect ed air ambulance helicopters (989) and then by the estimated operations per year per aircraft (367) . As summarized in table 7, when summed over the period of analysis, the total cost of the flight planning requirement is $15 million or $9 million present value.

A.1.d. Risk Analysis This proposal rule would require operators to implement an approved preflight riskanalysis program resulting in tw o cost categories. First, the operator would develop a

15risk-analys is program, and then the operat or would implement and perform a risk analysis before each flight in order to mitigate the risks.

We estimate that it would take an operator a total of 60 hours to design and implement an approved pre-flight risk analys is program. With a burdened hourly labor rate of $48, the estimated cost per operator is $2,880. When we multiply this cost per operator by the number of operators (73), the total industry cost is $210,240 ($171,618 present value).

In evaluating the minimum proposed requirements for a pre-flight risk analysis program, we estimate there would be roughly 362,963 af fected flights per year and that the accompanying risk analysis would take an additional 10 minutes per flight. 12 This equates to 60,494 hours on an annual basis. Wh en multiplied by the hourly cost of a pilot ($48), the annual cost is $2.9 million. For th e period of analysis, the total cost for the operators to perform the risk analysis is $29 million ($18 million present value).

A.1.e. Safety Training This proposed rule would require that medical personnel on board a helicopter air ambulance flight receive a supplemental safety br iefing. As an alternative to a pre-flight safety briefing, certificate holders would be ab le to provide training to medical personnel that would allow them to work safely in and around the aircraft. To be conservative, we estimated the training costs as opposed to the costs of the safety briefing. We estimate these costs at $8 million or $5 million present value. To comply with these requirements,

12 Depending upon the level or risk, the 10 minutes might be divided between pilot, director of operations or the operational control specialist.

16various categories of m edical personnel w ould undergo appropriate ground training and static training. We estimate the accompanyi ng cost for the specified categories.

Ground Training We estimate the number of medical personne l employed by operators that would be affected by this proposed rule and the accomp anying cost of training. We multiply the hourly cost of medical personnel by the num ber of affected employees. We estimate roughly 25% of medical personne l would need additional trai ning (the other 75% already receive adequate training and would not be af fected by the proposal). That product is then multiplied by the hourly estimate (4 hrs) th at would occur every other year for ground training. As shown in table 9, when summed over the period of analysis, the ground training cost is $3 million or $2 million present value.

17Static Training In addition to the ground training, static training of roughly 2 hours would also be required every 2 years. The hourly cost of medical personnel is multiplied by the number of affected employees, and then by the estimated 2 hours of static training per year. The total estimated cost of static training is $1. 4 million or $1.0 million present value and is shown in table 10. The same categories of medical personnel and estimated quantities

would be affected.

18Equipment In order to comply with the static trai ning requirements, operators would need a helicopter/equipment to be av ailable for the training. The total weighted average fixed cost for equipment is $1,067. 13 For the industry, we es timate 2,741 medical personnel would need training and roughly 4 medical personnel are able to be trained per hour. At this training rate, equipment would be require d for 685 hours every othe r year with a cost of $730,871. As shown in table 11, the tota l equipment cost is $4 million or $2 million present value.

13 We calculate the weighted average cost for affected aircraft from Ec onomic Values for FAA Investment and Regulatory Decisions, A Guide, December 31, 2004.

19Recordkeeping Once the training has been performed, the ope rator would document the training provided to medical personnel employed by the certificate holder. With a total of 10,965 potential medical personnel for 73 operators, there ar e approximately 150 medical personnel per operator. We estimate it would take a secr etary/record keeper (with a burdened hourly cost of $26) roughly 5 minutes per employee per year to document the training which

would total 914 hours. When mu ltiplied by the burdened hourly cost ($26) and summed over the period of analysis, the total recordkeeping costs are $238,000 or $146,000 present value.

20A.2.a. HTAWS The FAA is proposing to require that all helic opters used in air ambulance operations be equipped with HTAWS.

We estimate there are 989 air ambulance helicopt ers. Of these helicopters, we believe that approximately 200 are already equi pped with HTAWS. The remaining 789 helicopters would incur the cost of this provi sion. Because certificate holders would have three years from the effective data of the fina l rule to comply with this requirement, we assume that from 2012 through 2014 approximate ly one-third of the helicopters would come into compliance with this requirement on an annual basis. We estimate the unit cost to be equipped with HTAWS at $35,000. 14 Additionally, we estimate 2 days of equipment downtime 15 and a revenue loss of about $7,000 per helicopter per day.

14 This cost includes installation. 15 About 40 hours are needed to install HTAWS. Of those hours only 16 hours represent equipment downtime because the rest of the installation would be done during an interval maintenance inspection.

21Using the preceding inform ation, the FAA estimat es that the total cost of this provision would be about $39 million or $30 million present value, as shown in Table 13.

A.2.b. LARS The FAA is considering requiring certificat e holders conducting helicopter air ambulance operations to install LARS , which comprises a system or combination of systems that record a helicopter’s flight performance a nd operational data. Because installing LARS systems is not a requirement of the proposed ru le, we did not consider it a cost of the proposed rule. However, we estimated its cost as described in the following paragraphs.

We estimate 989 air ambulance helicopters woul d incur the cost of this provision. Certificate holders would have three years from the effective date of the final rule to comply with this requirement. Therefore, we assume that over 3 years approximately one-third of the helicopters would come in to compliance with this requirement on an

22annual basis. W e estimate the unit cost to be equipped with LARS at $6,450 and $750 per year for the LARS software. Additionally, we estimate 2 hours of equipment

downtime 16 and a revenue loss of about $7,000 per helicopter per day.

One approach the FAA is considering would require certificate holders to document and establish procedures of how they intend to ev aluate, analyze, and use the LARS data in support of proactive safety ini tiatives in their operations ma nuals. In the event this approach is adopted, we estimate 2 hours of a chief pilot and 6 hours of a record keeper/secretary to do so at burdened rates of $53 and $26, respectively. We assume 73 operators would incur this one-time cost.

The FAA estimates that the total cost of installing the LARS would be about $15 million or $10 million present value, as shown in Table 14.

A.3.a. Pilots with Instrument Rating

16 About 8 hours are needed to install LARS. Of those hours only 2 hours represent equipment downtime because the rest of the installation would be done during an interval maintenance inspection.

23The FAA is proposing to require helicopter air ambulance pilo ts to hold a helicopter

instrum ent rating. Although pilots would ha ve to complete some cross-country flight time as well as actual or simulated instrument time to obtain the instrument rating, the FAA believes that most pilots already have an instrument rating. Therefore, this provision would result in negligible, if any, additional cost to air ambulance operators.

The FAA calls for comments on this determin ation and requests that all comments be accompanied by clear and detailed supporting economic documentation.

A.3.b. Flight and Duty Time The FAA is proposing to require helicopter air ambulance operations with medical personnel on board to count towards a pilo t’s daily flight time limitations. This requirement could put some flightcrew members over their maximum daily hours of flight time resulting in the inability to con tinue flying, or to accep t new flights, until the pilot has received adequate rest. The FAA does not have enough information to quantify the impact of this requirement and calls for comments from affected entities. The FAA requests that all comments be accompanie d by clear and detailed supporting economic

documentation.

B. Commercial Helicopter (Incl uding Air Am bulance) Operations B.1.a. IFR Alternate Weather This provision would increase the alternate ai rport weather minimums for IFR operations. This additional margin for weather at the alternate airport would increase the likelihood that a pilot would be able land under IFR at the alternate ai rport if weather conditions at

24the destination airport deteriorate below the IFR weather m inimums while the aircraft is

en route.

The FAA estimates that the overall cost of th is proposed requirement would be minimal, as it would not prohibit flights from occurring and partial flig hts would still be able to occur. There is a possibility that some fli ghts may be affected ( potentially requiring more time) as a result of this requirement. Howeve r, we believe when operators are faced with inadequate and unsafe weather minimums, th ey would explore alternatives and plan appropriately. Accordingly, the FAA estim ates that with the proper planning this requirement would generate only minimal additional cost.

B.2.a. Radio Altimeter The FAA is proposing to require radio altime ters for all rotorcraft operated by part 135

certificate holders.

We estimate there are 989 air ambulance heli copters, 1,493 on demand helicopters, and 201 air tour helicopters. Of these helicopters, we believe that this provision would impact approximately 30% of air ambulance helicopters, 25% of on demand helicopters, and 25% of air tour helicopters. Because certificate holders would have three years from the effective date of the final rule to comply with this requirement, we assume that from 2012 through 2014, approximately one-third of the helicopters would come into compliance with this requirement on an annual basis. We estimate the unit cost to be

25equipped with radio altim eters at $5,250. 17 Additionally, we estimate 2 hours of equipment downtime 18 and revenue losses of about $7,000 and $1,700 per helicopter per day for air ambulance operators and air tour operators, respectively.

Using the preceding information, the FAA estimat es that the total cost of this provision would be about $6 million or $4 million pr esent value, as shown in Table 15.

Although on demand operators may also incur the cost of equipment downtime, we do not have enough information to quantify the im pact of these costs and call for comments from affected entities. The FAA requests that all comments be accompanied by clear and detailed supporting economic documentation.

B.2.b. Over water

17 This cost includes $1,500 for installation. 18 About 8 hours are needed to install radio altimeters. Of those hours only 2 hours represent equipment downtime because the rest of the installation would be done during an interval maintenance inspection.

26The FAA is proposing to require safety equipm ent for over-water operations.

We estimate there are 989 air ambulance heli copters and 1,493 on demand helicopters. Of these helicopters, we believe that this pr ovision would impact ap proximately 5% of air ambulance helicopters and 15% of on demand he licopters. Because certificate holders would have three years from the effective date of the final rule to comply with this requirement, we assume that from 2012 th rough 2014, approximately one-third of the helicopters would come into compliance with this requirement on an annual basis. We assume on average 4 people per air ambul ance helicopter and 6 people per on-demand helicopter. We estimate a cost of $2,850 pe r emergency locator tr ansmitter, $269 per life preserver, and $4,829 per life raft. 19

Using the preceding information, the FAA estimat es that the total cost of this provision would be about $2 million or $1.8 million present value, as shown in Table 16.

19 Includes survival k it with pyrotechnics.

27B.3. Competency in IMC Current rules do not require a pilot to demonstrate safely maneuvering an aircraft back into visual meteorological conditions (VMC ) following an inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) during a §135.293 competency check. The FAA proposes pilot testing on recovery from in advertent flight into IMC to include flatlight, whiteout, and brownout conditions. This testing would occur every two years and

would include a demonstration of the pilot's ability to maneuver the rotorcraft solely by

reference to instruments.

In order to demonstrate compliance with th is requirement, we estimate that each additional IMC recovery on an approach would take an additional 20 minutes. To be in compliance with this proposed requirement, all pilots for air ambulance operators would need to pe rform an additional IMC r ecovery every year. We conservatively estimate that all the other part 135 pilots (on demand, and air tours) would require an additional 20 minutes to demons trate compliance with the additional IMC recovery on an approach each year.

We estimate the total weighted average “blended” total hourly cost to operate an affected aircraft at roughly $1,400. With an additio nal 20 minutes required to perform an IMC recovery, additional costs per pilot would be $467 annually.

28W e multiply the estimated affected number of pilots in the appropriate categories by the estimated annual cost per pilot of $467. When summed over the period of analysis, the total costs are $25 million or $15 million present value.

C.1. Part 91 Weather This requirement would increase the weathe r minimums for helicopters operating under part 91 in Class G airspace. This proposal would provide a greater margin of safety for operators because pilots would be required to maintain a fixe d amount of visibility, rather than merely remaining clear of clouds.

The FAA estimates that the overall cost of th is proposed requirement would be minimal, as it would not prohibit flights from occurring and partial flig hts would still be able to occur. There is a possibility that some fli ghts may be affected ( potentially requiring more time) as a result of this requirement. Howeve r, we believe when operators are faced with

29inadequate and unsafe weather m inimums, th ey would explore alternatives and plan appropriately. Accordingly, the FAA estim ates that with the proper planning this requirement would generate only minimal additional cost.

C.2. Load Manifest This proposed rule would require the preparati on of a load manifest detailing information such as aircraft weight, center of gravity, crewmember identificati on, and other aircraft information. The requirement would apply to all aircraft, not just multiengine aircraft.

We estimate that 108 air ambulance aircraft and 3,752 commercial aircraft make an average of 3 takeoffs daily making the paper burden for technical time approximately 5 minutes per takeoff. We assume the hourly cost of a single-engine pilot at $38.

Using the preceding information, the FAA estimat es that the total cost of this provision would be about $134 million or $82 million present value, as shown in Table 18.

30Over 13 years, the FAA identified 7 accide nts (see table 19) in which over-weight, weight and balance may have played a role.

Of the 7 single-engine, 135 operator accidents, 2 involved one or more fatalities and 5

had no fatalities. These accidents resulted in 11 fatalities and 10 minor injuries. The estimated casualty cost of all thes e accidents was approximately $66 million. 20 We

evaluated each accident in terms of effectiv eness had the requirements in the proposed

rule been in effect before the accident took place. We assumed an effectiveness of 65

20 The FAA used $6 million as the statistical value for avoiding a fatality, and $12,000 for avoiding a minor injury.

31percen t for load manifest accidents based on a weighted average of the effectiveness of

the accidents.

To compare the benefits and costs of the load manifest, a uniform PV benefit was calculated over 10 years using the $66 million of undiscounted casualty costs and multiplying it by the 65 percent effectiveness. The result ($20 million) was compared to the PV costs of the rule, as shown in table 20:

The load manifest responds to NTSB Safety Recommendation A-99-61. That recommendation followed the October 8, 1997 acci dent that killed the pilot and all eight passengers. This proposal addresses the NTSB contributing factor of the pilot’s improper in-flight planning and decision making.

III. Comparison of Benefits and Costs

Table 21 shows a comparison of benefits a nd quantified costs of the proposed rule.

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