AFS-15-410-E

Exemption No. 11719

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, DC 20591

 

In the matter of the petition of 

 

AERO AIR, LLC Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2015-0098

 

for an exemption from § 91.529 (a)(1)

of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations 

 

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated December 15, 2014, Mr. Steve Boyce, Director of Maintenance, Aero Air, 

LLC, (Aero Air), Portland – Hillsboro Airport, 2050 NE 25th Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97124, 

petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Aero Air for an

amendment and extension to Exemption No. 10043B, originally issued to Butler Aircraft 

(Butler). Also by letter dated November 5, 2012, and posted to the docket (FAA-2001-10283)

on December18, 2012, Mr. Steve Boyce petitioned the FAA on behalf of Aero Air for an 

amendment to Exemption No. 10043, issued to Butler. In the November 5, 2012, petition, 

you indicated that Aero Air acquired the operating assets of Butler, which included three DC7 series aircraft for use in firefighting activities. The amendment you requested would change 

the exemption holder from Butler to Aero Air. You stated that an exemption from 

§ 91.529(a)(1) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations would allow Aero Air to operate its 

Boeing Douglas DC-7 and DC-7B aircraft (registration Nos. N401US, N6353C, and N838D) 

without a flight engineer during flightcrew training, ferry operations, and test flights that are 

conducted to prepare for firefighting operations carried out under 14 CFR part 137. Since 

Butler’s assets were acquired by Aero Air, the FAA will treat this as a new petition for 

exemption by Aero Air rather than an extension or transfer of the exemption previously 

granted to Butler. 
2

In your December 15, 2014, petition, you indicate that there has been no change in the 

conditions and reasons relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the 

original exemption.

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulations:

Section 91.529 prescribes, in pertinent part, that

(a) No person may operate the following airplanes without a flight crewmember 

holding a current flight engineer certificate: 

(1) An airplane for which a type certificate was issued before January 2, 1964, having 

a maximum certificated takeoff weight of more than 80,000 pounds. 

(2) An airplane type certificated after January 1, 1964, for which a flight engineer is 

required by the type certification requirements. 

(b) No person may serve as a required flight engineer on an airplane unless, within 

the preceding 6 calendar months, that person has had at least 50 hours of flight time 

as a flight engineer on that type airplane or has been checked by the Administrator on 

that type airplane and is found to be familiar and competent with all essential current 

information and operating procedures. 

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

Aero Air is requesting an extension to Exemption No. 10043B, which expires on May 31, 

2015. 

Not having this exemption in place by May 1, 2015 could place undue time constraints on

relocating an aircraft for repair during the middle of the 2015 fire season. 

If a flight engineer were to be mandated, his services would be needed for only two or three 

weeks each year and there is no way he could maintain currency requirements; so an annual 

flight check would be required. This would create an economic burden that would be 

detrimental to the costs passed on to the customer/taxpayer. 

The FAA's analysis is as follows:

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

in the Federal Register because the requested extension of the exemption would not set a 

precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to Aero Air. 

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

those presented in your petition for extension. In Grant of Exemption No. 10043, as amended, 

the FAA found that the petitioner was in a unique situation, in that most aircraft used in this 

type of operation are certificated for agricultural operations in the restricted category while 

Aero Air’s aircraft are certificated in the transport category.
3

Section 91.313 allows operation of restricted category aircraft in operations necessary for the 

accomplishment of the work activity directly associated with that special purpose. In addition, 

this section specifically states that operation of a restricted category civil aircraft to provide 

flight crewmember training in a special purpose operation for which the aircraft is certificated 

is considered to be an operation for that special purpose. Thus, if the petitioner’s aircraft were 

certificated in the restricted category, an exemption would not be necessary.

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an extension to Exemption No. 10043B, as 

amended (but being treated as a request for a grant of exemption for the reasons previously

stated), I find that:

 They are similar in all material respect to relief previously requested in Grant of 

Exemption No. 10043B, as amended (copy enclosed). 

 The reasons stated by the FAA for granting previous Grant of Exemption No.10043B,

as amended also apply to Aero Air, LLC’s present situation.

 A grant of exemption to the existing petition is in the public interest. 

Our Decision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of would be in the public interest. 

Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 106(f), 40113, and 44701 

delegated to me by the Administrator, Aero Air, LLC is granted an exemption from 

14 CFR § 91.529 to the extent necessary to allow Aero Air to operate its Boeing Douglas DC7 and DC-7B aircraft (registration Nos. N401US, N6353C, and N838D) without a flight 

engineer during flightcrew training, ferry operations, and test flights that are conducted to 

prepare for firefighting operations carried out under 14 CFR part 137, subject to the condition 

and limitation listed below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. This exemption applies to the following DC-7 series aircraft operated by Aero Air, 

LLC: Registration Numbers N401US, N6353C, and N838D. A copy of this 

exemption must be carried on board these aircraft at all times.

2. This exemption is not valid for operations outside of the United States.

This exemption terminates on May 31, 2017, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 29, 2015.

/s/

John Barbagallo

Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service